Life's an Alphabet
by charmony
Summary: NPH 11 - Snapshots out of time as the baby grows and things change for all our BAU family, not just the Hotchner's. WARNING: ratings are fluid and bound to change so please watch the author's notes section at the top of each chapter.
1. A is for Apple Pie

**A/N: All credit for the idea on how I've laid out this instalment of NPH goes to just slummin, my favourite Firefly fanfic author, who wrote Alphabet Soup. I liked it so much I thought I would move the immediate future forward in this manner.**

**So scrolling through the alphabet, from A through to Z, here follows life for the Hotchner's and their extended BAU family. See how Emily's pregnancy progresses, find out who Reid's next of kin is and stay tuned to see just what the blackout has to do with his life. Also, as requested, the little red something-something has a showing.**

**Some will be short pieces and others will be longer. Some will be light and fluffy, some will be deep and meaningful and others will be very raunchy and more than a little naughty, so I'm rating the overall story M. Just check the rating at the beginning of each chapter.**

**PLEASE NOTE: This is NPH 11. If you aren't already following this series, I recommend that you make your way to my author profile page and start with NPH 1, as some or all of this will not make sense otherwise.**

**DISCLAIMER: I sadly do not own Criminal Minds, its storylines or characters. I can only claim to manipulate them for the purposes of this story.**

**FYI: This piece is has some adult themes but can easily be enjoyed by all.**

**Read on and I hope you enjoy. Smell the aroma of fresh baked...**

Apple Pie

"Daddy do you really have to go to work?"

"Yeah buddy, but just for a few hours today; I'll be home by lunch time I promise. I have something really important for you to do for me while I'm away if you're up for it?"

Emily opened her eyes to see her two men standing in the doorway. She looked at the clock and groaned softly. It was barely 7 and after being ill so late in the night the last thing she'd wanted to do was find herself awake so early in the morning.

Aaron shot her a brief look and walked forward with a warm smile. He bent down and kissed her gently on the forehead. "Sorry for waking you love but I need to go in to the office and Jess is out of town so I can't get her to watch Jack."

"It's okay," she mumbled as she pushed her body into a sitting position. She shoved her hair out of her face and made her way to the bathroom, leaving the guys to their discussion.

"Is Emily okay daddy?"

"She just had a bit of an upset tummy last night so she'll need lots of cuddles and tender loving care. This is where I need your help. Can you take really good care of Emily for me today?"

Jack nodded seriously. "I always take good care of Emily daddy; she's says so all the time."

Aaron ruffled his son's hair. "You certainly do buddy. Give me a hug and then I've got to go."

New Section-

"What are you doing Emily?"

"I'm making an apple pie baby. Do you want to help me with it?"

"Yeah!"

Jack bolted to her side and pressed up against her. She gently stroked his hair before instructing him in getting out the rest of the ingredients and utensils. Over the next few hours she took more time making the pie than she ever had but it was hands down the most fun she'd ever had.

By the time Aaron arrived home five hours after he'd left the apartment he walked into smells reminiscent of his favourite bakery and he discovered the reason his wife had slapped his hands away from the apples the night before.

He stepped into the kitchen and looked around eagerly. Disappointment stabbed briefly when he didn't see the pie but he did see a sight for sore eyes. Emily's smile welcomed him home and her arms provided such safety as he'd never found anywhere else. As for her mouth...

"Eew, that's gross. Tina says kissing is how she ended up with her little brother. Are you gonna have a baby now that you are kissing all the time?"

Emily and Aaron exchanged a look; they had decided to wait until Christmas before broaching the subject with their son but it looked like the schedule had changed unless they were going to lie to him. Fortunately for them, the oven dinged at that moment and Jack squealed.

"Pie's ready, pie's ready. Can I get it out?"

Emily swallowed amusement as two sets of brown eyes eagerly watched her walk to the oven. "Remember we discussed this Jack."

He sighed in discouragement. "I know, but I was hoping you'd forget I was too little to get something out of the oven or that I'd grown enough in the last hour to be big enough."

She grinned as she put the pie on the stove. "It's a nice try sweetheart but you'll need to wait a few more years yet before I let you help me with this part."

He sighed again and crept closer with his father. Her amusement grew as they both licked their lips.

"You do both realise that this pie is for the neighbourhood homeless dinner right? That neither of you actually get a piece?"

As dismay appeared on both their faces and they gave her such sad looks she lost her battle with laughter and roared with it until she had to sit down gasping for breath. When she got her breath back she stood and made lunch for them, ignoring their looks at the pie and their pointed suggestions about buying a pie for the homeless. Aaron was doing the dishes when the second alarm she'd set went off.

Walking back to the oven, she pulled out the second, smaller pie she'd made while Jack was off drawing and set it beside the other one. She quickly cut it up and put three pieces in bowls. When she turned to ask the guys what they wanted on it, she nearly tripped over them both they were so close.

"If you put anything on my pie you will destroy a tradition that dates back to when I was four."

She smiled gently as she picked up a bowl and handed it to the love of her life. "Right then; that answers that question. Jack, what would you like on your pie?"

"Can I have ice cream and custard and jelly?"

She raised an eyebrow as she nodded. Aaron looked like he was swallowing his tongue trying not to say something and the softly horrified expression didn't bode well if he lost his battle. She complied with her son's request and decided to try her pie plain for the first time in her life as a reward for Aaron's forbearance. After making sure Jack was blowing on his spoonful a lot before eating it, she looked down at her plain bowl and sighed softly.

"Want me to help you find the magic of the plain apple pie?"

She smiled at Aaron as he moved closer. "Sure, if you think you can convince the girl who never touched this particular dessert without a truckload of custard smothering it first."

He shuddered slightly. "Pure sacrilege. Close your eyes. I'm putting a bite on the spoon for you. Imagine the spices you put in the mixture. Picture them in your minds' eye and bring to the front of your memory what they taste like. Then think of the apples, so soft yet crunchy at the same time and the pastry; golden brown, light and flaky. The perfect apple pie. Then put all those flavours together and open your mouth."

She did as requested and accepted the bite of pie. She kept her eyes closed as she started to chew and was absolutely startled by the flavours that exploded across her tongue. Her eyes flew open and she stared at her husband with a look he'd previously only seen on her face during orgasm.

"Wow," she breathed softly. She attempted a second bite and found that it was even better than the first. Deciding that custard was extremely overrated she tucked in to this newly discovered old favourite.

As he watched the rapture grow on her face he wondered if it was remotely possible to distract his son for a few hours in the middle of the day and not have the boy coming to find them to see what they were up to within minutes. Resigned to the thought that it wasn't actually possible, he wondered how soon he could hit the shower, his pie untouched and growing cold in the wake of watching Emily enjoy this new discovery.

She opened her eyes to smile at him and he felt it to his toes as she leaned in and whispered a suggestion that had him pushing back his chair.

"Where are you going daddy?"

"I need to go take a shower buddy. I'll be back shortly."

"But you didn't eat your pie daddy."

"I'll be back for it. Can you guard it for me?"

He nodded and turned back to his own pie. As he left the room he noted Emily's self-satisfied expression and immediately started plotting his revenge as he set about cooling the fire she'd set raging in his blood.

End-

**A/N: Hope you are all craving apple pie as much as I am now.**

**Stay tuned for the next instalment; B is for...**

**As always I love reviews, so please feel free to tell me what you think.**


	2. B is for Babies and Booties

**A/N: Hope you are enjoying my snapshots of family life for the extended BAU family.**

**Quick note for fanficlover; I am **_**such**_** a tease, I know. **** It's deplorable. I might make a brief reference back to the revenge mentioned briefly at the end of Apple Pie in a later piece but it won't be until near the middle of the alphabet if I do. Otherwise you may just have to use your imagination. ;)**

**Quick note for Hazmatt; I love apple pie but I can eat it either on it's own or with custard. Anything else is just too weird. Knowing little boys though, I figured Jack would happily pile all that on and more if he was allowed. I do like chocolate though and apples are simply mmm…**

**Please enjoy this delightfully light piece, rated K+.**

Babies and Booties

"How's my mama-to-be doing? You seem to be lagging behind at the moment."

Emily smiled as Garcia and JJ returned to her side. They'd been shopping for several hours while Aaron and Jack had a boys-date. In other words they were off to do things most girls wouldn't touch with a ten foot pole and she wasn't invited. Even though she loved the outdoors and getting dirty…

Twice now they'd walked past this store; once on the way to the new clothing store with the 75% off everything sale and once when they went for lunch. This time she hadn't been able to force her feet to move past the display.

"Ah, I get it," JJ said.

"Explain it to the woman who has no children."

"It's the force of the place; it only affects pregnant or clucky women who don't know better that dreaming will make the craving worse. It calls to them so much so that they'll lose all track of time and they have to enter it every time they pass it, even if they have so much baby stuff they don't know what to do with it all already. I still come in here all the time even though Henry's just turned two. They cater for babies and toddlers up to about the age of three."

"Well I suppose it's never too early to start spoiling the newest little Hotchner-to-be."

That statement pulled Emily's eyes from the window. "You are _not_ spending hundreds of dollars on my unborn child today. I will _not_ have this child spoilt before it starts to kick; once I can feel movement in here then you can start buying it stuff and _not_ before. Have I made myself clear?"

Garcia snapped a salute that made her friends laugh. JJ linked arms with her and they walked into the store. "So we're only browsing today?"

Emily nodded as she fingered the soft rug hanging near the entry to Bouncing Baby World. "Browsing only," she murmured with longing.

Garcia watched her friend walk off towards the racks of clothing and said softly, "What do you want to bet she walks out of the shop with _at least_ one bag of merchandise?"

JJ shook her head. "I never bet on a sure thing. Ooh, so cute."

Garcia rolled her eyes and trailed the younger woman around the various displays on the way to the children's toys and began to feel just a little clucky herself.

Emily smiled as she watched her two blond friends walk off. She wasn't going to buy anything today; she'd promised Aaron after all, but that wouldn't stop her from dreaming intensely as she unconsciously rubbed her still flat tummy and hummed softly to herself.

When she finally decided she'd spent too much time in the store without purchasing anything, she walked around until she found JJ and Garcia checking out little boy toys. She watched the glee with which they played and wondered if Henry would appreciate the toys as much as his mother and godmother currently were.

Unnoticed for almost five minutes, she cleared her throat. "Children, it's time to leave. Mummy still has several stops she needs to make."

"Ha ha, very funny," Garcia mumbled as she climbed to her feet. "So where are your purchases?"

"I'm not getting anything today. Besides the fact that I promised Aaron I wouldn't go there, I would like to be with him when we first get something for this little one." She kept to herself that it was a tradition he'd started with Haley and Jack that he was hoping to continue. She didn't mind that it was something he'd done with his deceased wife; she simply didn't want to have to explain it to her friends. Most people, even those closest to her or to Aaron, simply didn't understand why she was so happy to honour the woman who had been married to her husband first and she was frankly getting tired of having to explain that it all had to do with Jack and her gratefulness for how well Haley had raised him while she was alive.

JJ shrugged and Garcia looked disappointed as they exited the store but she was quickly distracted in the comic book store while JJ and Emily waited outside for her. They sat on a bench where they could see Garcia in a heated debate with the owner.

"I've been meaning to catch up with you since Maine but everything's been a little crazy lately. How have you been dealing with everything that happened?"

"Do you mean to ask how I'm doing knowing I've lost a baby even though I'm still pregnant with it's twin?"

"That sums it up better than anything I could have said. If its too painful to answer, you don't need to…"

Emily shook her head and settled deeper into the chair with a quick look at her watch. She was completely ready to take a nap but they had another hour or two to kill before she could safely head home. "It's fine, really. I mean, I bawled my eyes out at the hospital when it fully sunk in that I'd had a partial miscarriage but there was so much relief that I was still pregnant with at least one child that I just let the grief go. I still have Jack who might as well have been my own and there is still this other precious life growing within me. If I long for what I can't bring back, its like saying this child isn't as important as its lost twin and I would _never_ think that."

"That's very wise. And I'm glad that it wasn't more serious than it was. I swear you are one of the most unlucky women I've ever met. First you meet and fall in love with a man who chooses another woman over you, then you end up working with the same man while he is married to this other woman. You've been beaten up and shot at while on cases, been in one of the most serious car crashes in recorded history, spending months in recovery _and_ you've lost a baby. If I were you I might have packed in the towel by now."

"Ah, but see I'm also one of the most lucky women you will ever meet. I not only met my perfect match not once but twice in my lifetime and am now married to him but I also scored _the_ most gorgeous little boy for a son _and_ I'm pregnant with my dreamed-for child; in addition I'm also doing what I love for a living. How lucky can you possibly get?"

"How lucky can you get," JJ murmured in agreement as Garcia joined them looking flushed but triumphant as she explained that comic was a gift for Kevin that she'd been searching for since forever. As they moved on she thought of her own luck and smiled.

Luck really had nothing to do with it.

End-

**A/N:Stay tuned for the next instalment; C is for...**

**As always I love reviews, so please feel free to tell me what you think.**


	3. C is for Cuddles and Conversations

**A/N: This piece was going to be out yesterday but due to unforseen circumstances is coming out today instead. At least I'm back to daily postings; I feel better about that. This is me making up for my lousy showing over the past month and a half. Truly though I've been wanting to write this up for a while and now that I have pushed through my time issues and writers block everything is just flowing. It's beautiful.**

**This one is rated K for Christmas fluff…**

Cuddles and Conversations

"If you don't stop this vehicle right this instant I'm going to throw up everywhere."

Aaron wisely said nothing as he pulled the car to a stop at the side of the road. The last time they'd stopped, she'd sworn she'd have no trouble lasting the distance to Marion. Now they were about ten minutes away and they were stopping again. He hid his smile as she climbed out and took several deep breaths. He watched her carefully to make sure she was alright as he waited patiently. It was midafternoon but the day was already dark with the threat of heavy snow. He really wanted to get to her mother's estate before the threatened blizzard hit but at the rate they were going they were going to be out of luck as the first fat flakes started to fall.

He checked the back seat and his softly snoring son as his wife climbed quickly back in the car.

"Remind me again how long we have in this thing?"

He smothered another smile and refrained from pointing out that he'd never been there before. Emily was tired and grumpy and miserable and in desperate need of a long nap. He somehow didn't think she'd be joining them for dinner as he set the car in motion and moved them forward with more caution than before as the snow started falling in earnest.

The ten minutes turned into half an hour but finally he edged them through the open garage door and watched as Elizabeth keyed it closed behind them. He slipped out of the vehicle with a soft look at his sleeping family.

"Ambassador Prentiss, it's wonderful to see you again."

"Please call me Elizabeth. And as we are family now, I hope you will allow me to call you Aaron?"

He inclined his head. "I'll wake Jack up since he's well past the time for his afternoon nap to be done but I'll just carry Emily up to our room. She's had a horrible day so I'd rather not wake her if I can help it."

"That's completely understandable. We can put a plate aside for her and reheat it if she wakes up hungry later. Thomas is really the most delightful cook; I have no talent in that area whatsoever."

"I'm looking forward to meeting him."

New Section-

She followed her nose at the insistence of her stomach. She was really so tired she could easily have slept the night through but she hadn't felt like breakfast and lunch had come back up about half an hour after it'd gone down; with nothing in her stomach she wasn't too surprised to be awake, just unhappy to find herself in this state.

She looked into the dining room just as laughter washed over her from the living area. She walked in that direction and entered the warmth of a room warmed by an honest-to-goodness fireplace. Peace wrapped around her as happy memories of her childhood made themselves known.

"Hey you," Aaron said as she settled on the arm of his chair. He snaked an arm around her waist and tumbled her into his lap and she snuggled into his arms with a yawn.

"I'm hungry," she mumbled. "My brain and my stomach are very much at odds right now."

Elizabeth stood to her feet. "I'll reheat her plate. Do you want some wine to go with it?"

Emily shook her head and mumbled, "Can't; bad for the baby."

Her mother, three steps from the door faltered to a halt and gaped at her daughter who was almost asleep again. She placed her hands on her hips and said, "Well then."

Aaron grinned engagingly at her. "If you could get her food, I'll answer any questions you may have while she eats and then I can send her back to bed."

She nodded and walked out of the room. Thomas grinned at him. "It's good to surprise her every now and then; builds new character and softens her up."

Aaron grinned back and shifted strands of Emily's hair. She shifted and looked blearily up at him. "What time is it?"

"It's late kitten, about 9. Your mother is getting your food and then while you eat she is going to grill me and _then_ you can go back to sleep."

"Hmm, yummy. Wait, why would she need to grill you?"

"Because you told her the reason you can't have wine is because it's bad for the baby."

"Oh, oops. Sorry about that. I think I was going to lead into it gently."

Thomas cleared his throat and waited while Emily sat up and pushed her hair out of her face to focus on him. "I was just telling Aaron that surprises are good for her."

"My mother never deals well with surprises."

"She does now."

"No I don't; I just got better at hiding how well I _don't_ deal with surprises. Careful darling, it's hot."

Emily slipped to the floor and tucked into the meal in front of her, allowing conversation to flow over and around her as the food filled her up. When she was done, she stood to take the plate to the kitchen but found that Aaron was there to do that for her as he sent her back to bed. She was frankly relieved as her tired body demanded more sleep and she briefly wondered if she'd get away with blaming her condition entirely on Aaron despite how sweet he was being to her. She hadn't quite figured it out when sleep sucked her back under.

New Section-

Emily looked up from the book she was reading and smiled as laughter filled the air. She'd gotten to meet Thomas properly the morning after their arrival and found a man more than worthy of her mother and better still, able and _happy_ to keep up with the woman. He'd also been a hit with Aaron because the man wrote thrillers that were well researched and had an in-depth knowledge of the FBI that her husband could relate to. They were currently outside bringing more wood up from the shed and clearly the male bonding ritual continued. Her mother was taking a nap in an attempt to knock the cold she could feel coming on and Jack was…

She turned her head and smiled gently. "Hey sweetheart; what're you up to?" He had his blanket in hand and his favourite stuffed animal Mikey the monkey tucked under his arm.

Stopping at the end of the couch she was snuggled into, he asked, "Can I have a cuddle Emily?"

She put her book aside and patted her lap. It was a matter of seconds to settle boy and monkey and get them all wrapped up in his favourite blanket. For long minutes they spoke of the dogs who followed Jack everywhere and indeed were now curled up in front of the fire having followed the child into the room.

"Can we get a dog Emily? Daddy said he'd think about it and ask you what you thought and I don't think he's had a chance to ask you yet."

Emily smothered a smile as Aaron walked in with Thomas. "If daddy said he'd think about it and discuss it with me, you need to trust that he will do that. If you've only just asked him, you need to give him at least a day to talk to me about it and then you need to wait _patiently_ for an answer."

"But I really want a dog and I promise I'll look after it and you won't have to do anything."

"What about while you are at school?" She stopped him from responding and said gently but firmly, "Now that you've asked us both to think about it, you need to wait for an answer and not bring it up again. Alright?"

He nodded dejectedly before perking up. "What about a baby? I really want a little brother or sister to play with. Can we get one of those instead? At least they talk back, not like the dogs."

Thomas cleared his throat like he was trying not to laugh and Aaron didn't even manage that one as a burst of laughter briefly filled the room. Emily shot them both a quelling look and smiled down at Jack as he looked hopefully up at her.

"What if I said we were already working on the little brother or sister?"

Jack frowned. "Well how long would I have to wait for them before we could play together?"

She ignored the renewed noises coming from the corner of the room. "Babies take about nine months to grow in their mummy's tummy and then it takes a few years for them to grow old enough for you to be able to safely play with them."

"Oh." She waited while he thought about what she'd said. "You said you and daddy were already working on it. Does that mean you have a baby growing in your tummy right now?"

Emily nodded with an uncertain smile. This was the moment of truth, where she found out if he was really okay with her being around for the rest of his life. Aaron kissed her forehead lightly before leaving the room for more wood and she smiled at the love she felt flowing off that simple gesture. He understood this and would back her up no matter what.

"When the baby is born, it'll grow up calling you mummy, won't it?"

Her mind raced as he asked something she hadn't been expecting. "It's true that your little brother or sister will call me mummy. Why do you ask?" Her heart started to race as she wondered if he might want to address her the same way.

"I was just thinking, that's all. Grandma says I can ride on a pony tomorrow if it stops snowing."

She shoved her disappointment down deep as she responded warmly, "If it stops snowing tomorrow, we'll all go for a ride tomorrow, including you master Jack."

Jack wiggled with happiness and started talking a mile a minute about his first ever horse ride and Emily pulled her mind away from her fantasies to focus on the precious reality in front of her.

New Section-

"Daddy, can I ask you something serious before Emily comes to tuck me in?"

Aaron raised an eyebrow as he nodded. He settled on the bed before his son and took the little finger offered to him. _Woah, this really is serious._

"Daddy, do you think mummy will be upset with me if I decided to call Emily mummy like my little brother or sister will when they get big enough to talk?"

Aaron closed his eyes briefly and sent up a quick prayer of thanks. Emily had been crushed earlier when the conversation about titles hadn't resulted in her soon to be adopted son calling her mummy. He'd soothed her with the assurance that at least his son was thinking about it. Now it looked like it wouldn't be as far off as he thought it would be.

"I don't think she'd be upset at all buddy. I think she'd be happy to know that you are happy and that you trust Emily to be for you what she was when she was alive. Do you want to call Emily mummy?"

"I'm thinking about it daddy. Can we keep this a secret until I make a decision?"

He smiled gently at his often too-solemn little boy. "Of course we can; any talks we have with this special hold will be just between us unless someone witnesses it. How does that sound?"

Jack hugged him tight and snuggled down under the covers just as Emily arrived to tuck him in and tell him that nights' story. He got to his feet and stepped back to the wall to watch the interplay between these two people he loved more than anything else in the world. He was truly a blessed man.

End-

**A/N: I truly love Christmas and one of these days my Christmas will be white because I will spend it away from home where Santa wear's his shorts…**

**Stay tuned for the next instalment; D is for...**

**As always I love reviews, so please feel free to tell me what you think.**


	4. D is for Delightful Christmas Morning

**A/N: Ugg! I am having all kinds of issues with typing these up and trying to save and load them from work. Otherwise I might have had this out an hour or two ago. Sigh; why does everything have to be so difficult?**

**Anyway, this is my take on something I have been working towards since I first started NPH.**

**Hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it…**

**Rated K+ but totally sweet and fluffy.**

Delightful Christmas Morning

Christmas day dawned bright and early for everyone in the large country estate belonging to the Prentiss family. The reason for this was a pint-sized child with chocolate dark eyes and an infectious laugh shouting at the top of his lungs that Santa had visited with presents in the night. Four adults groaned and buried their heads in their pillows and this worked for all of a minute before said child landed on his parents with a loud squeal.

Aaron surged up instantly and hauled his young son into his arms for a bout of tickles as he watched Emily. She shot him a reassuring smile and dived in to help. He screamed with laughter until they decided he'd had enough. He snuggled in between them for a few seconds and then Emily leant in and whispered in his ear. They eyed Aaron off for a moment, then Emily cried "Now" and they were on the head of their house with clever working fingers.

Jack was so into the attack that he ended up tumbling off the side of the bed when the heavy covering shifted underneath him. He peered up at them and Emily smothered a laugh at the indignant look on his face. Aaron suggested he go give grandma and Thomas the same treatment and the look was gone in a wave of pure mischief as the boy bounced to his feet in his X-Men pyjamas and raced out of the room.

Well and truly awake now, he tumbled his wife as his mouth claimed hers and they took a few minutes at the start of what was going to be a busy, long day to reaffirm their love.

"You sure you're alright and Jack didn't hurt you when he landed on us?"

She lifted a hand and stroked his hair back from his forehead. "I'm fine, truly. He actually mostly missed me, just got a foot on my thigh. Truly, the doctor said I'm perfectly fine and that the baby is growing healthy and strong. I've had no pain and there was nothing in my last run of tests to cause even a moments concern. Please stop worrying; you'll get grey hairs in among all this lush brown hair of yours and then what will I do?"

Seeing that she was telling him the truth he dropped his head and kissed her deeply, loving the way her body instantly melted into him to get closer. It was just getting interesting for them both when a throat cleared from the door to the room. They turned just their heads to see Elizabeth standing there looking amused as she studied the other side of the room.

"Jack is insistent on opening presents and wants to give Emily hers first before anyone else. Thomas headed him off downstairs to see if they could figure out what might be in each box but I doubt that will distract him for more than a minute."

Aaron sighed. "We'll be down as soon as we're dressed." She nodded her head regally and left. He grinned down at the grumpy look on Emily's face. "Welcome to parenthood love." He kissed her nose lightly and rolled out of bed to get his body away from her heavenly temptation.

Within five minutes the house was gathered in the living room. Emily curled up on the couch with her tea, Aaron, Elizabeth and Thomas had coffee and Jack had a large sippy-cup of milk.

"Me first, me first! I want to give Emily my present first!"

Thomas was sitting closest to the tree in his role of present passer. "Right then master Hotchner, which one of the beautifully wrapped gifts here did you want to give to miss Emily first?"

Jack raced to Mikey, who was 'guarding' his blanket from thieves and delved into the folds. He came out with an envelope and walked to Emily with a shy smile. She set her tea down with an answering smile.

"Did you decorate this yourself?"

He nodded. "Grandma helped a little but I did most of it and she didn't help me with what's inside of it."

"It's beautiful work Jack. You are a very talented young man. I know all parents say the same but you truly have a creative gift."

Jack beamed a smile at her as Elizabeth nodded. "I noticed that too yesterday when we were working on this together but truthfully I'd noticed it earlier in the week when he was drawing. He's definitely gifted, without a doubt."

"His teachers all say the same thing too," Aaron admitted with a proud smile as he reached out to ruffle his sons' hair. Jack smoothed it back in place as he watched Emily carefully opening the envelope so as not to ruin anything.

Emily pulled out a folded piece of paper and carefully set the covering aside. She smiled at Jack who was now watching her anxiously. She hid her smile, knowing she'd love the drawing no matter what it was but Jack wouldn't understand that so she kept it to herself.

She opened the A4 sheet of paper and took it all in. He'd drawn her on the left of the page where she looked first, with an arrow pointing to her and stating her name just in case she was in doubt. He'd also drawn himself in the same way facing her. He'd given her a halo that made her smile anew and he'd depicted himself holding a sword which was touching her shoulder. The thing that dammed her breath in her lungs and made her start crying as her heart raced was the speech bubble he'd drawn from his mouth.

She ignored the adults as she looked at the child she hadn't thought she could ever love more until that moment. "It's beautiful baby but are you sure this is what you want?"

He nodded vigorously and asked uncertainly, "Is it okay or are you crying cause its bad?"

She didn't bother wiping away the tears as she went to her knees and hugged him tight to her. He threw his arms around her neck, buried his face in her hair and burst into tears.

"I love you so very, very much."

"I love you too mummy."

Elizabeth was outright crying and Thomas surreptitiously wiped away a tear as Aaron rescued the drawing and studied it. He smiled and wiped away a couple of tears of his own that fell as he read the speech bubble Jack had drawn.

"I dub thee mummy."

**A/N: I'm the author and I knew what was coming but I still felt like crying as I proof read it. The beginning of the rest of their lives.**

**Stay tuned for the next instalment; E is for...**

**As always I love reviews, so please feel free to tell me what you think.**


	5. E is for Evolution of the Mind

**A/N: Hello all. The POV of this piece will be either Reid's or his next-of-kin's.**

**Rated T as we get into some of the deep and dark stuff I have planned.**

Evolution of the Mind

Reid stepped off the plane in Atlanta and shook his head slightly in an attempt to clear the cobwebs of the nap he'd taken on the one hour flight. He normally didn't sleep on the plane but the case they'd handled that week had been gruelling and he'd been feeling far more tired than he usually did for about a month now.

He joked with Cindy as he passed her like he had done most weekends for the last 2 years. Unless he was working, he was always here in Atlanta on the weekend and for at least a week over Christmas too after he'd seen his mother.

He walked down the long corridor towards the terminal and smiled as he caught sight of the woman who had stolen his heart years earlier on a case. She spotted him at the same moment and waved so vigorously she hit the man standing beside her. He smothered a laugh as he watched her apologise profusely to the man. That was his woman; never doing anything by halves.

He cleared the end of the hall and got two feet from it before she launched her body at his. More than used to this enthusiastic welcome, he caught her up and swung them out of the path of the other debarking passengers as his mouth reacquainted with hers.

He thought for a moment the world was simply spinning because she was so intoxicating to be around. He continued thinking it right up to the point where his world went dark and the ground rushed up to meet him.

New Section-

He woke to a hospital ceiling, sunshine flooding the room and the heavenly smell of Italian food. He turned his head and found Austin Rivers sitting at his side with a bowl of spaghetti half eaten and currently being put to the side.

"Hey baby, you're awake. I have to call the doctor and let the nurse know but then I'm all yours unless they kick me out."

"What happened?" he asked as she hit the button above his bed.

"The doctor isn't sure yet but he'll explain it better when he gets here. How are you feeling?"

"Lousy and thirsty. Have I been here long?"

"It's Saturday lunch time."

He groaned as she helped him get some water. "I'm wasting all our time together. How soon can I get out of here?"

"Not any time soon I'm afraid," a tall older man said as he walked into the room. "My name is Dr Sirens and I'm afraid you may be with us for a while."

He shifted the bed into a sitting position and Austin settled pillows at his back for support. When she would have moved back from his side, he caught her hand and tugged her down to sit on the edge of the bed beside him.

"Austin was telling me you collapsed just over a month ago in Augusta in the same way as what happened last night. She gave us permission on your behalf to call up your file from their hospital and have it faxed over. After looking it over and noting the similarities between episodes I decided to rerun all the tests and add in a few of my own. I have the results here with me now but I need to be sure you understand these are just preliminary results and I'll need to refer you to another doctor for further testing."

Austin shot him a look that plainly said she was getting scared. He tugged her closer and wrapped his arm around her waist.

"Just tell me what you think is wrong with me."

He sighed. "Very well then. You have a growth in your brain." Austin and Reid stared at him in shock and he rushed on quickly. "It's small; that's why they missed it in Augusta. Their equipment is just a touch more dated than ours and it's also possible that the growth increased in size since the first scans were performed."

"What can we do about it?" Austin asked in a faint voice.

Shooting her a look, Reid noticed she was looking pale and incredibly close to tears. He tugged her head in and kissed her gently. "We'll be okay."

The look she gave him said she didn't quite believe it but she was game to try.

"I'm referring you to a neurologist by the name of Dr Ken Tanaka. He's one of the best of the field anywhere in the states. He'll take over from there. I can't really say how he will treat this growth but you can trust him to do his best for you both."

"Is it cancer?" Reid asked quietly.

"Dr Tanaka will need to do a biopsy before we can tell you that. Apart from these two blackouts…"

"Four," Reid interrupted.

"Excuse me?"

"I've had four blackouts. The last two times I was at home and I just picked myself up and went to bed. I think I was scared to admit something might be wrong."

Dr Sirens tsked softly. "You should have gone to your doctor in Washington when the second episode occurred. Growths have a way of getting too big to treat easily if left unnoticed for too long. Now, as I was saying, have you had any other symptoms recently that are different to what you might normally deal with?"

"I've been a little more short of breath than usual though not all the time and I'm noticing that I'm needing more sleep but not really finding more energy come from it."

"They could definitely be symptoms caused by this growth. Dr Tanaka will be down in an hour to see you. I advise you to get some rest because once he arrives you'll most likely be kept busy with tests for the rest of the day."

He walked out and left them reeling. For long minutes they just looked at each other and then Reid sighed quietly. "Damn. I was hoping this would go away if I just ignored it. Well, if I'm going to be here for an hour you might as well join me."

She smiled weakly at the leer on his face and slipped out of her shoes and jacket. He moved over as far as the bed would allow and shifted onto his side to face her. She slid in beside him and cuddled in close. He could feel how she was shaking so he simply held her until she wriggled back a bit to see his face.

"What will you tell your friends at work? If it turns out to be cancer, I mean."

He shrugged. "I don't know. I know I don't want to have to stop working while I get treatment but a lot can't be planned without more information. I just hope it doesn't mean I have to stop coming to see you because I either don't have time or I'm just too ill to travel."

She smiled gently. "I could just move to DC. You've been asking me for months now and I wasn't sure I wanted to uproot that completely and I know that's selfish but it was how I was feeling. But now I'm faced with the slim possibility of losing you and I know for fact that I don't want to miss a minute we could have together."

He shook his head. "I don't want you to move just because I _might_ be dying. If anything, I should let you go."

The look she shot him would have killed him then and there if it was at all possible. "Don't even think it Spencer Reid. I won't have it. I love you and I would marry you in a heartbeat if you would just get over your fears for the future of your mental health and ask me. Love is meant for both the good _and_ the bad and I don't know why you insist on being so pigheaded and stubborn and cruel and…"

He cut her off with a deep kiss, wondering if she was right and he was really being fair to her. As she responded he was filled with such a sense of impending doom if he let her go that he found he was crying. She pulled back and lifted a hand to his cheek.

"I'm so sorry Spencer. That was so mean of me to be calling you names with this hanging over your head and all."

He mirrored her action, gently stroking away a tear that slid from the corner of her eye. "It's actually my own stupidity I'm mourning. I'm so smart it isn't funny but when it comes to emotions and the heart I'm practically clueless. Here I am, with an amazingly beautiful, funny and smart girlfriend who is patient to-boot and instead of making you my wife I string you along with weekends. But the thought of sending you away leaves me more terrified than even Hankel did while he was torturing me. I'm going to be selfish here and go out on a limb. Even knowing I might be dying, Austin Rivers, will you marry me?"

"About bloody time," she whispered as she leaned in close and kissed him.

New Section-

Dr Tanaka was a third generation Japanese/American man with a dry sense of humour and not an ounce of annoyance at finding Reid was almost as smart as he was. He detailed what the evening would entail and took time to answer all of Austin's questions in terms she could actually understand. He also allowed her to stay with him as he took Reid through all the tests that needed to be performed to gain greater understanding of what the near future would hold. And when he went for the biopsy to take a bit of the tumour out for testing, Austin sat in the waiting room and prayed to a god she hadn't acknowledged for more years than she could count that everything would be alright.

"Austin?"

She lifted her head and wiped away a couple of tears. "Dr Tanaka. How did it go?"

"The procedure went well and we've taken your fiancé back to his room. Once he's been settled back in a nurse will come to take you back to him. I just wanted to let you know what I observed from the tests we've run.

"It looks like the growth is growing near one of the major arteries allowing blood flow into his brain. It's possible that the growth is being fed directly from this artery which is why we can see it now when they couldn't just 6 weeks ago. Seizures are generally more common than blackouts where growths are concerned but my thoughts are that when Spencer gets excited or the adrenalin caused by his job gets his blood pumping faster, this causes a temporary ballooning effect with the growth, effectively causing it to shut off most of the blood supply to the brain as it blocks the artery for that moment. This then causes him to collapse from the lack of supply. Do you understand what I'm saying here?"

"I think so. Will you remove it?"

"That would be my primary course of treatment. We do still need to know if it is cancerous but for now we'll focus on what we have in front of us. For tonight he'll rest and in the morning I'll get him to sign the release form allowing me to remove the growth. I'll detail what I've just told you and then we'll have to wait for the results. Will he be expected to work come Monday?"

"Yes; I'll need to contact his boss and explain that he'll need time off work. Can you tell me how long it might be before he could return to work?"

"The procedure to remove the growth is made a little more dangerous by the proximity it has to the artery I mentioned but all going well, I will release him Wednesday. The biopsy results won't be in for another few weeks; they'll be sent to his GP and he or she can take it from there. He will need to see a neurologist for follow up appointments to ensure in the long term that there is no regrowth if it isn't cancerous. If it is, he'll need to be referred to an oncologist who can take his treatment from there. As to work, I would recommend he take the rest of the week off to get his bearings back and then he should be fit to return to work the following Monday."

Austin thanked him profusely and settled back into her quietness for a few more moments before rallying enough to check the time. It was far too late to get his boss at work and if she waited until Monday it might be too late anyway if there was a case. She fished out the card Spencer had given her a year ago in case there was an emergency and she couldn't get in contact with him directly. It would blow his secret, but surely his boss would keep it from the rest of the team if she explained the situation?

She dialled the mobile number and listened to it ring. She was just about to give up when a breathless, husky male voice answered. Totally mortified as it dawned on her what she may have interrupted she was silent until his second hello.

"Sorry to have bothered you so late on a Saturday night but is this Supervisory Special Agent Aaron Hotchner?"

"It is," he answered cautiously as she heard a female voice in the background ask if everything was alright.

"My name is Austin Rivers and I have a message I need to give you with the understanding that it stay just between us for the time being. No one else on your team may know about this and knowing you married one of your team members I must insist you keep this from her also."

"I'm afraid I can't honour that last request. My wife and I have no secrets from each other but if it helps, I can vouch for her in that she will keep this to herself if requested."

Austin bit her lip and sighed quietly. It was bad enough that she knew Spencer wouldn't be happy with her telling his boss let alone knowing how he would react to find someone else knew. She did recall that he liked and respected Emily greatly though so with another sigh she decided to go out on a limb.

"As long as you can _both_ keep this close and quiet for the time being I would appreciate it."

"I think I can assure you of that but I will need more information first."

"Very well then. Spencer Reid will not be in to work for the next week due to the need for surgery sometime tomorrow. They'll release him to return to DC on Wednesday but his doctor recommends he take the rest of the week off to ensure he is fully recovered."

"May I ask how you've come by this information when I've had no clue to it and exactly how you know Dr Reid?"

She smiled at the stiff politeness in his voice. She did remember that from the one and only time they'd met. "The answer is the same for both; I'm his fiancée."

There was a moments silence at the other end of the line before he returned with, "Then perhaps the better question would be what exactly does he need surgery for?"

"I was hoping you wouldn't ask; that you might wait for Spencer to tell you."

"And if I insist on knowing the answer now?"

She sighed softly. "I'll tell you _only_ if you insist."

"I think I need to due to circumstances being what they are."

She closed her eyes. "He is having a growth removed from his brain that caused the blackout you are aware of in Augusta in November of last year."

"You say that like he's had more that I'm _not _aware of."

"You and me both. He had two while at home and then he collapsed at the airport when he arrived late last night. Tests indicated the presence of the growth and the doctor wants to remove it before it gets any bigger."

"Is it cancerous?"

"We don't know yet and won't for several weeks."

"I see. Thank you for informing me. Let Reid know that he can take as much time off as he needs to and that both Emily and I are here for him if he needs anything. You obviously have my number so the same offer is extended to you."

"Just like that?"

"It's what we do for family. Reid is family and by default now, so are you."

She took a deep breath to stem the flow of tears she could feel and thanked him quietly before cutting off the call.

New Section-

Austin spent Sunday morning waiting for Spencer to come out of surgery. She was relieved at the end to find that the procedure had successfully removed the entire growth and to the naked eye they couldn't see any other abnormalities before they closed him up. He slept all of Sunday afternoon away, woke briefly at seven to smile crookedly at her and then slipped back into sleep. It was almost lunch time on Monday before he woke up for any length of time and while he was awake the doctor assessed his condition and told them he would be released on Wednesday as indicated.

"Just be aware when travelling back to Washington that you will most likely end up with an extreme headache. Flying may be painful for a week or two and then it will all settle down and you should be fine."

When he left them to it, she turned to Spencer and smiled. He eyed her closely. "Whenever you get that gleam in your eyes I know you are going to bring something up that I am unlikely to win any argument on. Spill the beans."

She laughed gaily. "I quit my job here and I already have a couple of possibilities in Washington. I just need somewhere to live when I get there."

"What about your stuff?"

"Most of it belongs to the apartment. I figure I can have the rest sent over in a couple of boxes and I'll just take my clothing and immediate-need items on the flight over."

"Good thing I have a small but somewhat roomy apartment then, isn't it?"

"Most definitely." She bit her lip a little and blurted, "I can wait until we're actually married before moving over if you would prefer."

"Didn't you give notice at work?"

"Sure, but they love me there so if I tell them I can stay longer they'll take me back."

"Better not do that then since I am already mentally rearranging my apartment to fit all your stuff."

Her smile took his breath away and her kiss made sure it stayed missing until much, much later.

End-

**A/N: Hazmatt, you aren't the only one who thought Reid and Austin were too cute together. The only other fanfic I have with Criminal Minds outside of NPH has him with her also. I can't imagine anyone more suited for him…**

**Stay tuned for the next instalment; F is for...**

**As always I love reviews, so please feel free to tell me what you think.**


	6. F is for Fallout

**A/N: Hello All. The POV for this piece does not belong to Hotch or Emily.**

**Rated M for sex scenes.**

**Hope you all enjoy**

Fallout

"Hurry up and get the door open. I'm dying here…"

"I'd have an easier time remembering how to get the door if your hands weren't already down my pants."

"Stop complaining and give me the keys if you can't pay attention to the details."

"Huh! I got the door opened and…" his voice trailed off as her mouth claimed his and her body came to be wrapped around his. She'd already freed him from his underwear and she'd removed her own; _if_ she'd even been wearing any. He dropped his keys and cupped her bare buttocks, squeezing tight as he shifted her a bit to the left and helped her sink onto the length of him.

"Gods yes!" she shouted loud enough that if his closest neighbours on either side hadn't been away at that moment they definitely would have known what was going on.

He kicked the door closed and was extremely glad that it was past midnight and there was no one awake to call the cops on their indecent exposure. He shoved her up against the wall as he kissed, licked and bit at her delectable mouth. She moaned and thrust her tongue into his mouth as he moved in her tight folds. With the amount of flirtation over dinner and at the movie theatre and with the amount of foreplay in the car on the way home that nearly ran them off the road it was a matter of seconds before they exploded around each other.

Somehow he found the strength to walk them down the hall and collapse them onto the bed. Moving out of her body was a torture in itself but he managed that too. Tugging her into his arms he murmured softly, "We have a problem baby."

She snuggled close and yawned. "Only problem I can see is that we are still wearing too many clothes."

He smiled but it quickly faded. "That we can rectify in a minute or two. I was thinking more about the lack of protection."

She was still against him for a moment and then she shrugged slightly. "I'm on the pill; don't stress it too much. It isn't the first time we've forgotten and knowing us it won't be the last. We'll be fine."

He smiled slightly as he kissed her forehead. "I only seem to forget everything when you are about so maybe I should just walk around wearing one whenever you are near."

Her laughter made him smile but the smile died quickly as she stood and stripped. "You're still wearing too many clothes."

He let her help him out of the rest of his clothes and caught her close as he marvelled at the leanness of her body. As her clever mouth closed over him he fumbled in the bedside drawer for a condom before he forgot his always-important common sense for the second time that night.

New Section-

"Hey baby, sorry I missed your call. What's up?"

"We need to talk."

"I thought we were talking," he countered with a chuckle.

"You want to discuss my being pregnant on the phone?"

His breath hitched and he stumbled to a halt as he wondered if he'd get away with banging his head repeatedly against the nearest hard surface.

"Your place or mine?"

End-

**A/N: I'll leave you hanging for a while before coming back on this one. Hee hee.**

**Stay tuned for the next instalment; G is for...**

**As always I love reviews, so please feel free to tell me what you think.**


	7. G is for Green with Envy

**A/N: I'm just going to say flat out that A: I'm really sorry about the length of time between posts and B: I don't think the time between posts is going to get any shorter. This one was going to be out over the weekend but I was really ill so I didn't get anything more strenuous than a lot of sleep done. At work we are in the process of moving buildings and that is so completely hectic that I haven't been able to do any typing at work either. Then there are my weeknight activities which restarted with the school term and suddenly I have no time.**

**Thank you heaps to all of you who are sticking with me and waiting for my posts. I hope you continue to find my writing is worth waiting for.**

**This piece is rated T with a little violence and a fair bit of emotion involved.**

Green with Envy

"What do you think is going on up there with Hotch and Strauss?" JJ asked curiously as she settled her hips against Reid's desk. Derek and Emily sat at their desks doing paperwork and Dave and Garcia stood nearby and looked up from the quiet conversation they'd been having at JJ's question.

"It might have something to do with the very pretty agent who followed Strauss into the room before the door closed," Dave said as Garcia tried to shush him.

"Dave, would you like to be castrated? Cause I could happily go for that right now?"

He raised an eyebrow as he looked at his pregnant friend and thought about what he'd said. "Thanks Emily, but I like my equipment where it is."

She nodded without looking up from what she was writing. "If that's the case then I suggest you zip it."

"Yes mam," he said seriously as Derek shot him an amused but sympathetic look.

"Emily do you know what's going on up there?"

She looked at Reid briefly, noted that there was no teasing in his expression and went back to work. "Despite Hotch being my husband, he is still the leader of the team and I am still a subordinate. He doesn't tell me everything about leadership and what happens at his level and I don't pry unless he shares with me first or I can see something is doing his head in. It allows us to work together and still have a happy marriage.

"I can tell you he has been interviewing for my maternity replacement though so that may be why there is a very pretty agent in my _husband's_ office."

"Do I apologise about that comment? Because I suddenly feel like I need to."

Everyone was laughing at Dave's discomfort when the office door opened and Strauss walked out. She shot them a look that plainly asked why they weren't all busy-busy with work and walked off without saying anything. A minute after that, Hotch walked out of his office and the rest of the team got a look at the agent Dave had mentioned.

She was as tall as Emily, with masses of red-gold curls tumbling down her back and around her shoulders. Her complexion mirrored the red in her hair with pale, creamy skin unblemished and untanned. Dark green eyes looked them over as she approached and she walked with the confidence that came with knowing she was healthy and fit and could more than easily keep up with the lot of them. She'd dressed in a dark grey pantsuit and black boots.

"Austin's prettier," Reid muttered softly. Emily shot him a grin that he returned. The Hotchner's had sat down to dinner with Reid and Austin a couple of days ago and Emily had easily noted the love between the other two people at the table. For all that Reid seemed to be emotionally inept, where Austin was concerned he was smarter emotionally than in any other way.

"If only I were single," Derek muttered.

"Since when has that stopped you hotstuff?" Garcia asked.

Derek didn't get a chance to reply as the woman in question came to a halt beside their boss.

"Everyone, this is Kelly Anderson and she will be starting with us today to learn the ropes and integrate properly with the team before Emily goes on maternity leave."

"No offense to Kelly, but what happened to seeing if we could get Jordan Todd back?" JJ asked.

"I did ask her but she admitted that she didn't know quite how to handle us the first time around let alone actually stepping up as a profiler. She didn't feel she'd be able to do the role justice and didn't even want to try. For my part, I completely understand her logic.

"Now, Kelly, this is our media liaison Jennifer LaMontagne, Dave Rossi, Spencer Reid, Derek Morgan, Penelope Garcia who is our technical analyst and my wife Emily, whom you will be replacing temporarily.

"I have an urgent phone call to make so I expect you all to make Kelly feel welcome." He shot them all a serious look, brushed a light hand down Emily's arm and walked back toward his office.

For long moments they all studied each other closely without saying a word. Kelly was the one who broke the silence. "I know it can't be easy to open up to a stranger a team that has worked together as closely as you all have for as long as you have. You don't know me and you probably do what most people would do and underestimate me because of my looks. But I assure you I am capable of doing this job if you'll give me the chance."

Emily studied the woman closely for another long moment. "You're younger, I'd say probably late twenties but definitely not thirty. You had a pretty cushy lifestyle growing up because you don't appear to have any lines or wrinkles that would indicate a tough upbringing. You're like Aaron in that you carry a second, small gun in an ankle holster and my guess is your primary weapon is holstered at the small of your back because the line of your fitted jacket is unmarred. The suit is top-of-the-line, lending to the fact that you have money and my guess is your figure comes from either daily gym sessions or martial arts."

She got to her feet and felt a tiny thrill that she was just a centimetre taller. "I assure you, I am more than capable of doing my own job." She turned away and stalked off towards the bathroom praying as she went that she wouldn't break down before she was on her own.

Kelly opened her mouth and closed it with a gulp. "That was bad, wasn't it? Hotch will get mad at me and I haven't even had a chance to show what I'm capable of."

"Where'd Emily go?"

They turned to see the man in question. JJ turned on her heel. "I'll go check on her."

Garcia explained about the seemingly innocuous comment and what had followed. Aaron looked at Kelly and asked curiously, "How on the money was she?"

"She's scarily good. I don't think I could have pinned her any closer than she did me and I'd have told her that if she'd stuck around long enough. Though I think her thoughts were more 'get me out of here before I start crying' than 'let's see how right I am'. I honestly didn't mean to misstep so badly."

"I know you didn't. The warning for all of you though is to watch what you say particularly today. She's already had issues getting anything to fit despite how much time she's spending over a toilet bowl and she's not getting nearly enough sleep. I don't think either Jack or I are helping either because we're coddling her far too much and we all know how independent she is so just take it easy with her and take it in stride. She probably doesn't mean anything by it."

"Oh I'm pretty certain she meant the comment about castrating me," Dave muttered as he walked towards his office.

Aaron stayed with Reid and Derek to get the low-down on Dave's comment and Garcia led Kelly off on a grand tour of their domain.

New Section-

"So who is Jack?"

"He's Superman's kid." She caught the look on Kelly's face and laughed. "That's what I call Hotch, Superman. His son Jack is from his first marriage. Most likely another topic off limits with Emily at the moment. Haley was killed a couple of years ago and Jack might have died as well if his father hadn't killed the murderer. Emily and Hotch had known each other years ago and after Haley was gone her sister worked to get them together again."

"Haley's own sister? How does that work?"

Garcia continued explaining how everything worked long after they got comfortable in her domain. They talked, with Garcia sharing all the gossip she knew no one would mind her sharing until it was time for their morning meeting and then she had Kelly lead them back to the bullpen to ensure the other woman knew where she was going.

They arrived at the bullpen to find the rest of the group in the main area minus Hotch and Emily.

"How's Superwoman?"

"Feeling a little embarrassed about her outburst. Emily's normally really friendly with everyone so don't be surprised if she apologises to you later Kelly."

Kelly nodded. "If she does it's great but I don't think she really needs to. I could have phrased what I said a little better."

"Is there a reason we aren't in the meeting room right now?" Garcia asked.

JJ shrugged and watched Hotch's closed office door. "I didn't have a case to present to the team but I was warned we may have one anyway. We're waiting for Hotch to either give us paperwork or a case file and I think he and Emily are busy while they wait."

Garcia looked around nervously. "Strauss isn't about is she?"

The group shook their head. Derek asked Kelly a question and they were still talking ten minutes later when the word came that it was wheels-up in 45 minutes.

New Section-

Four days later Emily rounded the corner of a building and came to a halt as she nearly ran into the business end of the gun belonging to the unsub she'd unknowingly flushed out of hiding with her questioning. She backed up slowly as he looked her over and leered. The look in his eyes said plainly that he was going to cause her a world of hurt in a short period of time regardless of her condition or what she did for a living.

Wishing now she'd pulled her gun and hadn't been quite so leery of keeping it holstered for her own safety and that of the people she'd been running through at the time she lifted her hands and watched him closely. She needed enough of a gap to clear her own gun and get it in position to gain the advantage but the way he was watching her she wasn't sure she was going to get that opportunity before he disarmed her completely and killed her for his pleasure.

A soft sound and movement to her right saw him turn his head and then begin to bring his arm around. The second his attention wavered she pulled her weapon and brought it up just as a leg appeared and sent his gun flying. Emily brought her knee up and got him where it would cripple him the most and stepped back as pleasure washed through her to see him doubled up, on the ground in agony as he gasped for breath.

She turned her head to see Kelly standing there and smiled slightly. "How'd you get here so fast?"

"I was getting coffee for everyone and saw you go flying past after him. I dumped the coffee and followed in case you needed backup but when the crowds thinned and I couldn't see you I realised I'd somehow gone too far and I doubled back to find you just in time to see him thinking lecherous thoughts and realising you being an agent wasn't going to stop him I raced to help you out and you know the rest. Nice move by the way."

"Yours too," Emily murmured as she thought about how cold and abrupt she'd been with this woman over the last few days simply because she was feeling crappy about her changing shape and how gorgeous her replacement was.

Knowing she couldn't stay silent any longer, she said quietly, "I'm sorry I've been so nasty this last week. You've been nothing but nice to me and I've treated you like crap cause I'm feeling down about my weight and there you are looking gorgeous and all and working closely with my boss who is my husband."

Kelly shot her a sunny smile. "Hey, don't sweat it. Oh, and remind me to introduce you to Brad when we return to Virginia."

"Who's Brad?"

"My absolute hottie of a husband."

"You don't wear a wedding ring."

"I can't wear rings of any kind. For whatever reason, my fingers automatically swell up and the ring has to be cut off me. So I wear mine on a chain around my neck."

"That must suck big-time."

Kelly shrugged and pulled out a set of handcuffs. "Not really; I mean my first ring was cut off at 8 and within a year of that we knew it wasn't a one off thing and I was just unique. By the time Brad proposed he knew the score and so when he presented me with the engagement ring, the box held a matching chain for the ring to go on." She sighed happily. "God I love that man."

They fell silent for a few minutes as they got their unsub all trussed up and started walking back towards their vehicles.

"How long have you been married?"

"Coming up on ten years this April. I couldn't imagine my life without him and even knowing that what I do is so dangerous, he said that he wouldn't change me for the world. He's a doctor."

They discussed their husbands and their plans for the future as they walked back to Kelly's vehicle. Emily suggested they could send a couple of the guys to collect the other one later. Kelly climbed in the back with their falsetto, still-moaning prisoner and Emily drove them to the station. When they walked into the station with the unsub the entire city had been looking for over the last three days, a cheer preceded them to the meeting room they'd appropriated at the back.

Aaron turned and looked them both over, his relief that they appeared unscathed evident as he asked mildly, "Weren't you going for coffee?"

"What can I say? I deliver unsubs with my coffee. Have done all my life."

The guys were chuckling as their unsub growled in a voice still singing soprano, "Get these crazy bitches away from me."

Kelly raised an eyebrow. "I don't think you hit him hard enough if he can talk already."

Emily sighed and patted her abdomen. "I blame the baby; it got in the way."

Kelly nodded wisely. "Completely understandable." She hauled the guy up and saluting the team, turned and dragged him out of the room with Emily following as they discussed ways to get around her growing bulk.

"Looks like they bonded finally," Dave commented as they all settled back in their chairs.

"Looks like," Aaron agreed with a small smile.

End-

**A/N: Having never been pregnant before, I'm guessing at all the emotional stuff and everything else that goes with it so please bear with me if I get something wrong and feel free to correct anything I do.**

**Stay tuned for the next instalment; H is for...**

**As always I love reviews, so please feel free to tell me what you think.**


	8. H is for House Hunting

**A/N: I was so excited by how this one just flowed as it appeared on the screen and I got just a little bit lucky with a quiet workday. I have tomorrow off work too so I am planning to get a little more done for the weekend.**

**Thanks again to Hazmatt who continues to review everything I write. For those of you who have been with me up to now and have disappeared I hope everything is alright and I'll see you again soon. To those of you who continue to read and like what I write without reviewing, thanks heaps and if you ever feel like writing a five second review, please know that I will be excited to mention you here.**

**This piece is rated K+ for a dream house viewing.**

House Hunting

You're unhappy with this one too."

"I feel like I'm being too fickle for the day but I just can't seem to walk through a place and not see faults."

"What's wrong with this one?"

"The backyard isn't big enough for the kids and the dogs Jack insists we are getting."

Aaron roared with laughter as Jack came flying up. He hugged Emily gently around her waist as she shot her husband an annoyed look before throwing his body at his father. She silently appreciated the smarts he was showing in understanding that he needed to take care with how boisterous he was with her as she made her way to the open front door.

The guys followed with Jack talking a mile a minute about siblings and pets and huge bedrooms with more space than the entire apartment currently had.

Which brought them to the reason they were spending this rainy Saturday looking at houses. The apartment was fine for now but Jack needed space for his growing body to run and tumble and with a baby on the way they needed the extra space for the nursery. They hadn't agreed with Jack when he'd excitedly talked about dogs but they were secretly thinking of getting one that could grow up with their kids and if they did, the apartment was definitely out.

So here they were, leaving the sixth house of the day. She was tired and grumpy and getting really hungry which was a plus now that she was in her second trimester and her morning sickness was thankfully a thing of the past. They only had one more house to view but it was going to have to be spectacular for her not to hate it on site. Considering it was the only house she hadn't chosen herself, she was a little leery of what she was about to see.

She stayed silent as she rested her eyes and let the conversation flow around her. When the car finally stopped and car doors opened and closed around her she opened her eyes and peered through the windshield. A light fog was beginning to descend but she could see far enough ahead to see a set of gates in front of the car. The gates were about as tall as she was, made of metal and designed to look like a rose bush done two-dimensionally.

Her door opened as intrigue wound through her.

"We have to wait for the agent to come out to let us in. We're a few minutes early but if you want to get out and stretch your legs while you wait it seems like it's stopped raining for the moment."

She nodded and held out a hand to him. He helped her ease out of the car and she moved right up to the gate to see what she could see through the vines.

What she saw took her breath away. The yard was green and lush, with trees that were bare but she could almost see what they would look like from their height and the way the branches sprawled. The edges of the lawn were dirt with plants just waiting for spring to flower.

The house itself looked more like a mansion than anything else. It was a sprawling two-storey red brick dream; her immediate thought was that they'd never be able to afford it in a million years.

A familiar pair of arms wrapped her up from behind and she settled back into Aaron's arms as he started to list the key features.

"The downstairs is all open plan living space with a closed room at the back we could turn into a study and library. A bathroom complete with shower and toilet is down near the back also for when we use the pool and don't want to track chlorine all through the house. The kitchen's massive and perfect for entertaining. Separate living room and den could allow for his and hers sections if we have guests." She smiled at the hint that come footy season she'd be glad of the additional room though she was still wondering about the price.

"The upstairs has an open gathering space we could do anything we like with and then there are five double bedrooms. The master has a walk-in robe and ensuite bathroom with small spa that is still big enough for two. The second bedroom has a smaller walk-in and an ensuite with just a normal bath. The other three rooms have built-in robes and share a large spa bathroom complete with everything you could dream to find in a room you don't tend to spend a lot of time in."

"I've only got two questions for you and you'd better have a good answer to both."

"Don't I always have good answers?"

She nudged him in the ribs as a car pulled up alongside theirs. "I want to know how on earth you think tormenting me with something I actually like but could never afford is going to get you into my bed and my body tonight and just how many kids are you thinking we're going to have?"

He lightly kissed the top of her head and stepped back slightly from her to greet the agent and introduce her to his family. Emily smiled graciously and walked back to the car. Once they were waiting for the gates to open, she muttered, "I'm still waiting."

Aaron shot her an amused look. "I don't know if you noticed though knowing you that's a silly thing to say, but your mother didn't actually give us a wedding present. It came up in casual conversation over Christmas just after you let the cat out of the bag about the baby and she pointed out that my apartment wasn't nearly big enough for the three of us now, let alone adding a fourth little person and all the additional paraphernalia that comes with a newborn. I agreed that she was right but pointed out that even with our combined salaries we couldn't afford much. She came back with the reason that she hadn't yet purchased us a wedding present being that she could see that down the track we would need a bigger place and she wanted to purchase it outright for us and gift it to us."

Emily stared at him with wide eyes even as Jack asked excitedly if they were getting out to see the house yet. Aaron let him out and walked around to her side of the car. When they were walking towards the front door and watching the agent neatly fielding Jack's many questions with the ease of a parent, he continued quietly, "When I mentioned this house hunting trip your mother mentioned this place was still on the market because the owners were looking for someone special. I did point out the price and she just raised an eyebrow at me and gestured around her as if to say 'don't I own this already?' After that I admit I stopped arguing, particularly once I got a look at the photos. At least give it a chance and if you aren't totally in love with it when we are done we can tell your mother thanks but no thanks."

She nodded slowly. "Okay, that adequately answers my first question."

He grinned. "As many or as few as you'd like." She rolled her eyes in exasperation and his grin widened as he linked arms with her, ignoring her futile attempts to pull free. "Jess phoned last night with the surprise news that she's pregnant."

"I thought they were happy with just the two boys."

"They were. This pregnancy is totally out of the blue for them both. But it means that she'll have two growing, rambunctious boys and a newborn on her hands and we'll be out of a sitter for when we are both out of town."

Emily nodded slowly. "So either one of us quits work or we hire in some help."

He inclined his head as the agent opened the door with a flourish and started her spiel. Emily listened with half an ear as she thought the issue through in her head. She wasn't ready to quit working though she'd known enough mothers who stopped when the children were born despite swearing black and blue that they wouldn't. But she didn't think she would just stop being who she was when she had the baby. She watched Aaron with Jack and thought she'd end up even more like her husband. He needed to work to catch the bad guys in order to make the world a safer place for Jack and she doubted that desire would decrease with the birth of their second child.

She walked up the sweeping staircase and trailed a hand along the smooth mahogany of the rail. The space at the top of the stairs was large and open and could be easily used as either an upstairs living area or a play area for the kids. She walked down to the master bedroom and across to the doors at the other side of the room. They obviously had a balcony. Trying the door handle she found she could walk onto the balcony and take in the vista of the back yard.

A large pool was surrounding by a fence as tall as she was and surrounding that was more of the lush greenness she'd seen at the front of the house and more skeletons that would become giant trees come spring. It almost looked like they had a mini forest back here.

She walked back into the bedroom and across to the bathroom. She was imagining what she and Aaron could get up to in a spa that size when the man himself cleared his throat behind her. She turned and smiled as she put on her face what she'd just been thinking. Heat filled his eyes and he was walking towards her when he staggered slightly.

"Wow! You guys have your own mini-pool."

Emily laughed at the look on Aaron's face and gestured Jack closer. She explained what a spa was as the agent caught up to them and started touting the highlights of the suite. As they moved on to the other bedrooms on the floor she slipped her arm in Aaron's again.

"You were thinking what I was thinking, I could tell, but I just remembered a bit of advice I got from the doctor when I mentioned we were house hunting and I swear it's like a bucket of cold water poured over my head."

"Do I want to know?"

She nudged him gently. "For good hygiene I obviously must shower but I am not allowed any hot baths as the heat can harm the baby."

He sighed heavily. "Now that you mention it, I remember a similar bit of advice Haley passed on to me while she was carrying Jack." He spun her into his arms and smiled cheekily down at her. "We'll just have to store it up for when the monkey is born and there _is_ the pool to consider."

Her eyes lit up with interest even as she shook her head in amusement and pushed gently out of his arms to finish the tour. They waved the agent off as they stood in front of the gates a half hour later.

"Well?"

"It's perfect, though I shudder to ask how much it would cost and I wonder if we really need all this space."

"See, that's what I was thinking but we will need the help when you come back to work. Jess can help us out while it is just Jack because he adores her and he is already proving to be gentle where growing babies are concerned. But after that, I think it would pay for us to look into hiring a nanny."

"A nanny," she said flatly.

"Just for while we are out of town and for during the day while we are at work. We can offer free room and board in exchange for her work and pay her a small wage on top of that. She can have the second room with the walk-in and ensuite on the understanding that she isn't needed all the time and her hours will be very sporadic and job-affected."

"I don't know Aaron. It's major to think of trusting a stranger with two of the little people I love the most in the world. I'm not sure how I'd go with it. I mean I was practically brought up by nannies after my father died and I don't have even a single happy memory of that time. I wouldn't want to inflict that on Jack's happy nature or on anyone else."

"So maybe what we do is we put out the word now among people we trust, to see if anyone we know can give us someone _they_ trust. It doesn't necessarily have to be anyone with any experience; just someone who loves children and is willing to do for them what we lay out. Then we see if Jess is willing to keep an eye on them and we trial them with Jack."

"So you're saying there are ways around my fears."

"If that is how you want to look at it. We can work this; we must unless you are intending to become a stay-at-home mum."

She shuddered at the thought and bumped her head against his shoulder. "Give me a few days to wrap my head around everything. To be totally honest I don't think I'm too future-thinking at the moment."

"That's not surprising. The doctor warned me that you'd be pretty centrally focused on your health and that of our unborn child. Take what time you need but keep in mind that we should probably start looking by the end of the month if we are going to do this."

"What other choice is there?"

Aaron shrugged and ushered them to the car as it started to rain again.

End-

**A/N: I think I was drooling a little over the house by the time I was done but I figured for what I had planned for the future the house was perfect.**

**Stay tuned for the next instalment; I is for...**

**As always I love reviews, so please feel free to tell me what you think.**


	9. I is for Ice Cream Interview

**A/N: Hi all. This is a companion piece to House Hunting and follows on maybe a week or two after it.**

**Thanks so much to babygurl0506 for reviewing my last piece. **

**Rated T for some naughty thoughts to action.**

Ice Cream Interview

Emily watched her husband walk towards her and had an extremely strong desire to be somewhere private as she admired the strong, powerful lines of his thighs in his jeans and the way his sweater hugged his sculpted chest under his jacket. Of course, if they went somewhere private she missed out on dessert...

She reached an eager hand for the double chocolate obsession Aaron had in his right hand.

"Do you know, I was getting all excited as I walked toward you; watching your face and knowing sex was in my near future. Then you looked at the ice cream and I wondered if there was any point in even asking for a kiss."

She licked her tongue around the chocolate she'd been obsessing about for the last two days and looked up through her lashes at the man she always wanted more than anything else. She let her eyes travel his body from top to bottom and back up and smiled at him with all the heat she was suddenly feeling.

With a deep groan, Aaron leaned in and kissed her as if his life wasn't worth living if he didn't put his all in the action. She was seriously thinking of dumping her longed for sweets in order to cuddle in as close as she could get when whistling and cheering broke through the haze he'd woven around her. They pulled back to find they were the centre of almost everyone's attention and she blushed a deep scarlet that left her lightheaded.

Looking away from Aaron's engaging grin, she saw Jack talking with a young woman and another boy his own age as if he'd known them for ages. She studied them long enough that Aaron's gaze came round to see what had caught her attention. Noting that Jack was content Aaron took a seat beside her on the picnic bench and they enjoyed their ice cream as they held hands, enjoyed quiet conversation and watched their son.

"I wonder if he realises his ice cream has melted all over his hand uneaten," Emily mused softly.

Aaron snorted. "I never thought I'd see him so distracted around anything sweet. The kid looks like he could be in Jack's class. Do you know the mother?"

"No, I've never seen her before."

They continued watching for another few minutes before Emily started to shiver so noticeably that Aaron decided their outing was over. He slipped off his jacket and wrapped it around her shoulders. She shot him a grateful smile before he walked to his son to find out just who these people were.

His normally reserved son looked up at him and beamed him a smile that made him think for a moment that Haley was smiling at him again and he felt a brief physical pain that she would miss seeing him grow up. Seconds later Emily's arms wrapped around him and she shot him a look that clearly said she not only understood, but was okay with it. He smiled back and looked back at Jack.

"Hey buddy, we need to get going."

Jack looked at them seriously for a moment and nodded. "Cause mummy's cold right?"

Aaron nodded agreement as Emily crouched down and attempted to clean up his hand from the sticky treat with a couple of wet wipes she now carried around permanently.

He offered a hand to the woman and watched as she flinched back slightly before carefully extending her own. "I'm Aaron Hotchner and this is my wife Emily."

"I'm Carrie Whitman and this is my son Toby. Your son Jack is a sweetheart and I have to admit, has totally charmed me."

Emily straightened with a hand to the small of her back and grinned. "Oh he's his daddy's son alright. They're a pair of heartbreakers."

Carrie smiled back shyly. "I can definitely see the resemblance."

"She's looking for a job so Toby can keep coming to school and so they can find somewhere to live."

Carrie went so red it was obvious Toby had done most of the talking for her and probably said way too much for her comfort.

"What kind of work are you looking for?"

She shrugged slightly. "At this stage I'll do anything. I had Toby right out of school and my husband insisted I stay at home and look after him so I don't have any skills beyond that which any mother learns on the fly."

Emily studied the way the woman had hunched in on herself when she spoke about her husband. She flicked a look at Aaron and noted the same thoughtful expression on his face as she asked, "Where's your husband now?"

Carrie went white and looked down and it was Jack who answered. "He isn't in the picture anymore. I don't know what that means exactly and neither does Toby but he hasn't seen his dad in over a year and he says that it's a good thing though I don't get that either."

Emily ruffled his hair gently. "You'll get it one day baby, it's just adults-speak. Carrie, where are you and Toby living now?"

"They're staying at a shelter that's yucky and dirty and filled with weird people," Jack said as he shrugged off what he didn't understand.

Emily and Aaron shared a look loaded with minutes worth of conversation in just under a few seconds and then Emily turned to Carrie with a smile.

"We're looking for a nanny. You've already said you have no qualifications, which is fine, but can you adjust any attitudes you may have towards parenting in order to step into the role we have in mind?"

"It's possible, though I'd probably want to know what I'd need to be changing before I actually changed it. But, ah, not to seem rude or anything but being a nanny doesn't pay much."

"No it doesn't, but it comes with free room and board and you wouldn't have to worry about paying for your own food or Toby's. We could possibly also discuss paying Toby's school tuition until you get settled and we can definitely be a little flexible with the wage we are offering on top of everything I've just mentioned so that you can afford all you need."

Carrie stared at her as if she'd grown a second head. "Why would you do all that?"

"Jack's birth mother died several years ago and with her seemed to die his ability to trust adults and easily make friends. But here he is happily chatting away with you; so much so that his ice cream melted uneaten and he didn't once look around to see where we were at. That's major, and not something we'd easily give up seeing happen."

"Why do you need a nanny?"

"We work on the same unit within the FBI. Part of our job is to profile criminals where the crimes are happening and to that end we travel a lot. Jack's aunt Jess has up until recently been our minder of choice but she's expecting her third child a few months after ours is due and so we decided we need in-house help and soon."

Aaron decided it was time to sweeten the pot. "You would have a room with a walk-in robe and ensuite, a balcony and access to a massive yard with swimming pool. Toby can either have his own room or he can share with Jack and that can always change later if the boys or you want. You get the safety of a roof over your head for as long as you are working for us. You'll also get the added safety of living with two FBI agents and in addition there is the security of not having your name on a piece of paper your husband could possibly trace."

She backed up a step and stared at him in shock. "How did you know I'd be hiding from my husband?"

He spread his hands in a harmless gesture. "You aren't with your husband anymore. You flinched away from me when I offered my hand though you still took it despite your fear which shows you have more courage than you probably realise. You've been away from his smothering habits for a year and yet you haven't gotten a job and you don't have a house to rent, both of which would leave a paper trail. My guess is he was abusive with you for years and you took it as long as you were certain Toby was safe because you loved him but then he made a move towards your most precious and loved possession and all bets were off because you love Toby more."

She nodded slowly as a tear slid down her cheek. "I got home to see Toby had spilt his milk all over the floor. Mark was so angry he'd hit Toby hard enough to knock him across the room. He saw me standing there in shock and told me to deal with it before stalking out of the house. I'd known something like this would happen eventually so I packed our bags quickly and we left. I stopped at the bank long enough to clear out my meagre savings and then we never looked back; we disappeared completely off the grid because I knew if Mark ever found us he'd kill us."

Emily nodded understandingly. "You would be completely safe if you came to live with us. The only time Aaron yells about anything is at work when he's trying to get answers from an unsub and we have ways of disciplining Jack that have nothing to do with corporal punishment. The only screaming you may hear would come from me and it never has anything to do with pain or fear." She smiled in embarrassment. "Come to think of it, maybe we should offer you the room at the other end of the house so at least you'll get a little sleep."

Carrie gaped at her for a moment and then she laughed, a surprised burst of sound that made her son stare at her in shock. Laughter had obviously not been high on the agenda for a long time.

It took her a minute to calm down but then she nodded. "I'd like to give the job a go, if you're both serious about what is on offer."

Emily shivered as the wind picked up and Aaron nodded firmly as he wrapped his arm around her shoulders and Jack moved in to hug her side. "We are serious. Do you have a car?"

Carrie shook her head. "I had to sell it to get here and put down a small bond at the shelter and to pay for food and some clothing when the old lot wore out."

"Could you easily carry what you have in the way of possessions?"

She smiled sadly. "It all fits into two backpacks."

"Great! If it's nearby, let's go collect it now and you can move in tonight. The rooms are already furnished though we can look at getting new furniture if you don't like what we already have. Tomorrow we can sit down and talk more about the role and what it will entail and we can take things from there."

"Just like that?"

"Exactly like that. You've been interviewed by our son who is the one you'll be looking after and he likes you which is the most important thing in this equation. In addition to that Emily likes you and time will tell if I like you too but don't take it personally that I don't like you as much as they do initially; I have greater trust issues than they do."

She looked them all over and then crouched down in front of Toby. "What do you think baby? Should we go live with Jack and his family?"

Toby nodded vigorously. "They made you laugh mummy; I haven't heard you laugh in like forever but if you laugh more than we can have fun again and that's a good thing right?"

"Definitely baby," she murmured as she hugged him, hiding her tears from his view until she was under control again. She smiled at him and stood, offering her hand to Aaron. "I'll take it."

End-

**A/N: I think J will follow on directly after this one and will cement Carrie's position in the Hotchner household. I've decided I like her enough to keep her around for a long while. **

**Stay tuned for the next instalment; H is for...**

**As always I love reviews, so please feel free to tell me what you think.**


	10. J is for Just Another Day

**A/N: I sit here writing this note after I've finished writing the rest of this chapter and I still don't know what to name it. Ugg! Not fair.**

**Thanks to Hazmatt and to fanficlover for awesome reviews. I love that you are enjoying what I write.**

**Now I have to go name this thing...**

**Rated T for some less than innocent thoughts.**

Just Another Day

Carrie Whitman woke up surrounded by warmth and more bedding than she'd ever had in her life. For long moments she just lay where she was without moving, thinking about everything that had happened in the last 12 hours. An innocent trip to get ice cream for Toby because he'd badgered her for a week had turned into the opportunity of a lifetime; a chance to turn their lives around for good because a couple of people were prepared to give her a go even knowing that her past was shadowed and filled with violence and uncertainty.

She sent up a prayer that she wouldn't screw this up and slipped out of bed. She padded silently out of the room and down to where she knew Toby was sleeping in Jack's room. The two boys had already proven to be inseparable and the adults knew that if they could only figure out the rest with the working situation, everything would be alright.

She eased the door open and nearly ran into Emily Hotchner. The other woman steadied her as her eyes adjusted to the dim morning light filtering in through the curtains at the window and then she smothered a smile of maternal joy at what she saw. She looked across at Emily and they exchanged grins edged with laughter.

Toby and Jack had decided to share the bed the night before rather than insisting on a second bed. This morning they were tangled up in bedding, their most favourite stuffed toys and each other. Arms and legs were everywhere in all the cloth and what caused the almost-laughter was the fact that sometime in the night they'd tumbled off the bed...and obviously slept right through it.

"Are they even alive in there?" Carrie asked softly.

Emily nodded. "Yes, I'd just finished checking on them when you came in. Jack is normally awake by now so my guess is they spent more time talking than we originally thought they would."

Carrie nodded too. "The way they were so good about going to bed on time I knew it was too good to be true."

Emily motioned to the door and they walked out quietly. Carrie jumped slightly as for the second time in five minutes she nearly collided with a Hotchner. Didn't these guys ever make noise?

Emily smiled at the man who steadied her and moved in as soon as she'd stepped back. She looked away as they kissed with more passion than she'd ever seen between any two people in her life.

"Good morning kitten. Are they still sleeping?"

"Have a look for yourself. It's really picture-worthy. I'll get breakfast on."

Aaron grinned and slipped into the room as the two women walked downstairs. She was nearly to the kitchen when she realised she was still in her pyjamas walking around a strange house with a male she didn't really know under the same roof.

"I think I'll go get dressed before breakfast."

Emily looked at her long enough she had to quell the urge to squirm. "If you feel you need to. Saturdays are pretty informal though. Aaron might or might not go into the office for a few hours this afternoon but generally we just stay casual and we don't normally dress until late in the morning."

"I think, until I get to know everyone better I would feel more comfortable if I was dressed when outside my room."

"Go for it then. I don't need help with breakfast though your preferences would be great."

"What are you having?"

Emily smiled sadly. "Nothing I actually feel like. I badly want bacon and eggs with toast smothered in tomato sauce but most of that is on my 'please do not consume while pregnant' list. So I'll have toast, fresh fruit and muesli. Aaron was given the option to enjoy what I can't but is choosing to be a smart husband and will stick to what I'm having. You can have the same as us or I can make you what I really want and no, you won't be in trouble if you choose the second option."

Carrie shuddered slightly. "I don't actually like hot food for breakfast except during Winter and then the exception is porridge smothered in honey and dried fruit. I won't touch anything else before 10. I'll have whatever you and Aaron are having minus the toast."

Emily nodded with a smile and Carrie left the room. She shot Aaron a small smile as she passed him on the stairs, noting the laughter in his eyes as he grinned at her and held up a camera. Then he was past her and she hadn't felt the least threatened by the slight exchange.

Perhaps there was hope for this arrangement yet.

New Section-

"She looks so uncomfortable right now," Emily murmured to her husband as Carrie closed herself into another change room with another pile of clothes. When Carrie had come down in the same thing she'd been wearing the night before and admitted that it was her only winter outfit, Emily had put her foot down and said they were going shopping whether the other woman could afford it or not; she was to consider it an advance on a bonus of some kind or other. She'd then changed the subject and ignored all attempts to talk her out of the trip.

"She's wondering if there are strings attached to all the good we are offering to her and her son. It's understandable that she'll be uncomfortable until she realises the only string leads to her doing her very best for Jack and the future Hotchner's we'll be having."

Emily's eyes narrowed. "See now, there's that plural again where children are concerned. I'm seriously beginning to think we need to sit down to a long discussion of what we _both_ want out of the future."

Aaron leaned in and lightly kissed her nose as he kept an eye on the boys nearby. "We will have that discussion, I promise; after the baby is born and you know if all the turmoil leading up to birth is worth it."

She grumbled about how sneaky males could be before pasting on a bright smile to her face as Carrie stepped out of the dressing room.

Aaron watched the interplay between the two women with a small smile on his face. He loved tweaking his kitten's tail and watching her fur fluff up in annoyance but even more than that he loved stroking her enough to hear her purr...

"Daddy guess what?"

He shifted uncomfortably as he pulled up a grin and crouched down in front of Jack and Toby. The two boys were inseparable and he was glad that they were getting on. It helped Carrie's comfort level to know her son was happy.

"What buddy?"

"Toby and I are going to share a room _forever!_" This proclamation was made with a giant arm gesture from his son and vigorous nodding from Toby.

He could feel laughter pushing at the back of his throat but he swallowed it long enough to be sure the decision was one they could both live with. Neither boy was in doubt that they would be 'brothers' for life, as they put it so Aaron assured them that their decision was a good one and they would definitely action it that afternoon.

Two hours later they were just finishing up in the furniture store when his phone rang. He checked the number and moved away from the group as he answered.

Jack sighed heavily and Emily looked down at the defeated set of her son's shoulders. "What is it baby?"

"Daddy has to go in to work and when he looks like that, you probably have to go too. Daddy promised us hotdogs and macaroni for dinner."

Emily flicked a look first at Aaron and pushed down a wince at the stance of his body. Her husband was getting quietly furious over something big. She then looked at Carrie and saw the other woman mouthing that she could do dinner like that.

Emily leaned down and hugged Jack tight. "I know it isn't often fair the way our jobs get in the way of spending time with you but we do our best to make the world a safer place for everyone to live in and then we do our best to make it up to you. I also know it isn't the same thing, but I'm sure Toby would be the first to tell you his mum makes great hotdogs and macaroni."

Jack turned into her and hugged her tight. "I know mummy but I still miss you when you're gone and it doesn't make the nightmares go away."

"I know baby and I'm so sorry about that. But it will get better and just think, in another three months you get me full time for a year and your dad will be around for 6 weeks a few weeks after that so you'll have us both together at the same time. And having done my calculations, that time is during the Summer vacation so you'll be around all the time too. So start planning what mischief you want to get up to and we'll see what magic we can make happen okay?"

Jack nodded and wiped the tears off his face as Aaron walked up. He gently ruffled his son's hair and sent him over to Carrie.

"What is it Aaron?"

"Can I get you to stay home on this one?"

Emily frowned as a sinking suspicion that this case was going to be a bad one rolled through her. "Is that an order or a request?"

He shook his head slightly and folded her close. "What I wouldn't give right now to be able to leave you here safe with Jack but knowing what I do I can't even make it an order. I really need you on this one."

"What do you need from me right now?"

"Call Jess and ask her if she can come and stay with Carrie for a few days, with Carrie in charge, to see how she does on her own. And see if Mitch can come with her for the evening to help with the setup of the bed and other furniture. I really don't want Jess to be lifting anything heavy. Tell them they'll have to pick Carrie, Toby and Jack up from work. We don't have time to drop them home."

"Will do. What is it all about?"

"You'll find out when we get there and then you'll wish you could go back to not knowing too." He kissed her temple gently and turned to the nearby group. "Right everyone, we need to be going now and quickly."

She let it go as she pulled out her phone and dialled her close friend. Daniel answered the phone and said his mum was sleeping but called for his dad.

Mitch came on the phone and she explained the situation.

"Do you think Carrie would be alright if it was just me for the rest of the day and into tomorrow? Jess nearly passed out this morning and has been so incredibly sick since yesterday."

Emily explained that Carrie had been abused by her husband and might not be comfortable with the situation but she put Carrie on the phone and let her talk to Mitch as she helped Toby and Jack buckle into the car. When Carrie handed the phone back to her she noticed immediately that the call had been finished.

"Mitch seems really nice and I love his genuine concern for Jack's aunt Jess. He's going to come round with Sean and Daniel to pick me up from Quantico and will stay with us tonight. If Jess is up to it she'll join us tomorrow but if not it'll just be Mitch and I for the next while."

"Are you sure you're okay with that?"

"I think I need to be. It's not the easiest thing in the world to see that not all men are scum but I've seen Aaron's goodness and Mitch's genuine concern and obvious love for his wife tell me that he is another good man. I need to get stronger and I need to learn to trust again and since Mitch is family to Jack, I might as well start there."

Emily shot her an approving look and turned to face forward as the motion of the car made her feel a little woozy.

At FBI headquarters they got everyone signed in quickly and moved up to the sixth floor to find the whole place was buzzing quietly. Emily sent Jack to her desk to wait for Mitch with the others and followed Aaron into the meeting room to find not only their team waiting for them but four others; one including an obviously pregnant Jordan Todd who was presently involved in a heated discussion with Derek. She spotted them walking in and broke from the argument to come over and offer her hand.

"Hotch, will you please tell Derek that my being pregnant does not preclude me from doing my job?"

Hotch frowned, his mind obviously on other things so Emily jumped in. "Might I ask what it has to do with Derek at all?"

Jordan glared at the man glowering at her side. "I'd like to say nothing at all but he's the father of my baby."

Derek opened his mouth and closed it without saying anything. He looked furious but underneath that she caught the same worry she'd seen in Aaron so she let it go and it was obvious that though he was driving her crazy, Jordan had seen it too and was doing the same.

"Derek, Aaron asked me to stay behind and when I asked him if it was an order he said it wasn't and he just wanted to wrap me up even knowing he needed me for whatever this is. The same thing applies to Jordan. I'm guessing that this has to do with terrorism of some flavour or other and just like me being needed, Jordan is necessary to what is to come. Get some pointers off of Aaron about safe hovering and then get over it. We're going and that's that."

Derek turned on his heel and stalked to the other side of the room.

"From the bottom of my heart, thank you."

"You do realise my price will be all the gossip later when we have a moment."

Jordan shrugged and started to make her way to the front of the room. "I figured it would be something like that."

New Section-

Carrie turned her head slightly and smiled. "Aaron and Emily are home."

"Unless you have some really late night visitors calling," Jess said sleepily from where she lay on the couch with her head in Mitch's lap while they watched the late night movie.

Carrie shuddered slightly. "I hope not. I don't know anyone else in the city apart from you guys and the Hotchner's."

The front door opened and closed quietly and moments later Emily walked straight past the room heading for the stairs and Aaron looked into the room. Carrie winced slightly. He looked exhausted.

"Carrie, your only job in the morning is to keep the kids from waking us up before we wake ourselves. Jess, Mitch, I'll leave it up to you whether you stay or go or what."

Then he was gone and the three of them were left blinking in surprise. Jess yawned hugely.

"I'm far too tired to be moving everyone tonight so we'll stay now and go in the morning."

Carrie mused quietly, "He treated me just now like I've permanently got the job."

Mitch grinned at her. "You do. Emily phoned early this morning to see how everything was going and I gave you such a glowing report that she asked why we were still here. She had to go in a hurry after that so I didn't get a chance to explain that we had too much planned for the day for us to be splitting our resources."

"Oh, thanks. It means a lot that you think I've done well."

Mitch snorted. "Whenever Jack would have a nightmare at our place, we would simply stay with him til he was calm again and that would be that. We never thought to get him talking about what the nightmare was about or to get him drawing it in order to get it out of his system. Him not having a nightmare last night is a major thing and I would have told Emily that if she'd stayed on the line a little longer.

"You're good for her son and you don't pay additional attention to the one child to the detriment of the other. Jack is in good hands and I have no doubt that the Hotchner's of the future will be as equally looked after and loved. I simply told it like it is."

Carrie sat quietly and thought of all Mitch had said long after he'd said goodnight. Perhaps she could do this after all.

End-

**A/N: I'm looking forward to the next piece so much so that it was mostly written weeks ago. I'm off to polish off the last little bits and then get it up.**

**Stay tuned for the next instalment; K is for...**

**As always I love reviews, so please feel free to tell me what you think.**


	11. K is for Kicking Criminal Ass

**A/N: Check out the end for author's notes but see if you can pick the scene before the end.**

**Rated K+ for a little bit of mischief.**

Kicking Criminal Ass

"I swear Kelly gets chatted up wherever we go."

Jordan smiled slightly at her fiancé and rubbed her vigorously kicking, expanding waistline gently. "She does. It almost never happens when Brad is around mind you but it can still happen. Poor thing must be miserable with his flu but he still sent his wife out to unwind." She shot Derek a sly look and added, "You know, I used to as well but now most of them take a second look and hightail it elsewhere."

"And the rest?"

"What can I say, I'm just that beautiful."

"That I totally agree with," Dave said as he placed several drinks on the table. Everyone laughed at the dark look Derek shot his friend.

"Where'd the rest of the girls go?"

Austin took her beer with a quiet thanks as Reid said, "Pack mentality; Emily had to go to the bathroom and because JJ and Garcia were having a pretty intense conversation with her at the time they went to continue the chat."

"How do you suddenly notice so much about women's behaviour kid?"

Reid raised an eyebrow. "I live with Austin now and she seems…determined to increase my social awareness. Uncomfortably so."

More laughter ensued as Kelly walked back to them with the guy who'd been chatting her up. After the intensity of the case their joint teams had just completed, they'd come to the local bistro to unwind with a beer (or juice) and have a meal.

"Right, these are the non-alcoholic mixers and this is Brad. You'll never guess what he says he does for a living."

"I'm assuming you're going to tell us?" Dave asked dryly.

Kelly beamed at him. "Sure am. He says he works for the FBI.

New Section-

"Feel a bit better now?" JJ asked Emily gently.

She nodded slowly. "I think so. But I'm getting majorly annoyed with how emotional I've been. I don't know how Aaron can stand to be around me."

"He loves you and he's been through this before with Haley so he knows you don't really mean it when you get, well, mean for lack of a better word."

Emily gave her friends a watery smile and walked to the basins to wash her face again. Several deep breaths later and she was feeling steadier than she had all day. She knew in her heart that Aaron loved her but surely that love would be wearing thin by now?

"The only way to know for certain is to ask," JJ pointed out reasonably.

"What if he lies to me because he doesn't want to set me off again?"

"Make sure you are looking into his eyes when you ask. I mean sure he's easier to read now that you've softened him up for everyone but he's still one of the hardest men to read I've ever met so watch his eyes."

Garcia nodded agreement with this bit of advice.

Emily's smile was a little brighter this time. "I don't know what I did to deserve you two but you are without a doubt two of most awesome women I have ever met and better friends I know I couldn't find anywhere."

Garcia went beet red and JJ ducked her head. They all hugged and with arms linking them close they walked out of the bathroom and back into the bar. JJ was in front and the first to come to a halt. Garcia and Emily, still linked at the arms despite the crowd looked at her in concern.

"Does the guy at the table chatting up Kelly and making Austin look like she's struggling not to laugh look familiar to either of you?"

Garcia frowned but Emily picked it up immediately. "Oooooh, I do recognise him. It was…" she frowned now to as she went back through her memories of the three of them out together over the years.

Garcia snapped her fingers. "I know, pick me pick me!"

JJ raised her eyebrows and Emily rolled her eyes with a smile.

"He attempted to pick Emily up in her first year with us when we were out at a bar; it might have even been this one, I really don't recall. His name was something like Ben or Brendon or…"

"Brad," Emily and JJ chorused together. As a threesome they looked back at the table. "You know," Emily continued, "that explains why they're all humouring his pickup line. They're trying to see if he's a threat without anyone getting in trouble."

"Should we spoil that?" Garcia asked with a wicked little smile.

JJ and Emily exchanged looks and replied, "Let's."

They whispered as they crossed the room, trying to figure out the best way to handle it. In the end, as Emily was the one he'd originally tried to pick up, she was the one nominated to tap him on the shoulder. As she got closer, she noted Aaron was watching her closely, a warm and relaxed expression on his handsome features. For some strange reason she felt suddenly exposed and shy but she controlled it as she came to a halt behind Brad and tapped his shoulder, interrupting his diatribe on the excitingly dangerous missions he'd been on recently for a supposedly rapt Kelly.

He turned around with a charming smile that faded to a frown as he looked her and her two blonde friends over.

Then he went white.

"Hi Brad," Emily said cheerfully.

"Are they…" he started faintly.

"With the FBI?" JJ finished with a sweet smile. "That's right."

"Excuse me," he mumbled quickly and rushed off.

For a moment there was silence from the group and then Kelly demanded, "What did we miss here?"

Emily shrugged and the three women chorused with attitude, "Just kicking some criminal ass!"

End-

**A/N: I've always loved that bit at the start of Open Season in Season 2 where they meet Brad the 'FBI agent'. I reckon it was beautifully done and to date it is still one of my favourite pieces of all the seasons.**

**Stay tuned for the next piece; L is for…**

**As always I love reviews, so please feel free to let me know what you think.**


	12. L is for Little Red SomethingSomething

**A/N: This piece is dedicated to Hazmatt who is the only one who indicated to me that she'd like to know what happened with the little red something-something I mentioned a while ago. Thanks for your patience and I hope it was worth the wait.**

**This piece is rated M for seduction and sex scenes.**

Little Red Something-Something

Emily finished surveying the front foyer and stairs and smiled. She now had an hour for a bath and to put the finishing touches on the seduction she had in mind. She turned into the bathroom and climbed into the tub. The water wasn't as hot as she would like it to be but she needed the relaxation of nerves that had tensed up in anticipation of the night ahead and the additional smells she'd get from the oils she'd placed in the water.

Her doctor was more than pleased with her progress and delighted to hear she'd had no pain in her pelvis so far as the baby grew. Though the ultrasound had shown the baby was smaller than normal for how old it was in her womb, it appeared to be correctly proportioned and the early blood tests showed that everything was normal there. Her energy levels were almost completely back to what they'd been before she conceived and when she cut right to the heart of it, she was feeling frisky.

The boys were at Jess and Mitch's for the night with about 6 other boys, another mother and Carrie for additional supervision and she was intending to make full use of the time she had just with Aaron.

Her bath finished, she let the water out of the spa and dried herself. She rubbed her favourite vanilla oil all over her body and took the time to curl her hair and pile it messily on the top of her head with a few pins. She walked to the bed and picked up the red lingerie she'd bought months ago for the wedding that she'd not had the chance to use because she'd been too ill and too sore. She didn't know if it would still fit but she was intent on at least trying before she gave up.

Five minutes of wiggling about later she breathed a heartfelt sigh of relief. The panties were a little tight but they fit and since she wouldn't be wearing them for too long she thought she could deal with it. The best effect showed with the bustier; it pushed up her larger breasts to even greater effect than anything she could have anticipated for her honeymoon.

She double-checked her matching red nails and slipped into the pair of red stiletto heels she'd chosen to complete the outfit as she heard a car in the driveway.

Now all she needed was Aaron Hotchner on his knees and her fantasy would be complete.

New Section-

Aaron closed the front door slowly and took in the foyer. Rose petals were scattered everywhere and a pale pink card lay at his feet. He set his briefcase down to the side and slipped out of his jacket as he cocked his head; not a sound met his ears.

He picked up the card and smiled. 'It's just you and me babe.' He licked his lips in anticipation and headed for the stairs. He wasn't surprised that the trail led him straight to the bedroom. He took a deep breath and stepped through the door.

The room was bathed only in candlelight. Candles were dotted everywhere and still more rose petals led further into the room, forming a ring around the woman he loved more than any other.

He swallowed hard as he took in the vision that she was and the smile that told him clearer than any words could that everything he wanted this night was his for the taking. He closed the door and leaned against it.

"You never cease to amaze me kitten."

Her smile changed just enough that he could tell she was amused with him. "Babe, I haven't even started yet."

He walked forward slowly as he pulled his tie off and started on the buttons of his shirt. Her smile heated his blood and made him stumble slightly as he got close enough to see what she was wearing with more certainty.

"Is this the promised little red enticement from our honeymoon?"

"Mmm. Do you like it?"

"Without a doubt."

"You're wearing too many clothes baby. Let's get you out of them."

He smoothed his hands down her arms as her fingers finished the job of unbuttoning his shirt. She slipped the shirt off his arms and pulled his singlet off. He resettled his hands across the gentle swell of her abdomen as her lips parted against his shoulder and her teeth lightly grazed his skin. He moaned as her tongue followed quickly to soothe the slight sharpness. She pulled back, studied his expression a moment and then proceeded down his torso the same way. Whenever he attempted to get her mouth up where he could access it with his own she distracted him just a little more with her mouth on his body.

By the time he finally got the kiss he'd wanted since he laid eyes on her she had him out of all his clothes, allowing him to press his completely naked body against her mostly naked one. He kissed her like it was his last moment and he needed to make it count but she pulled back far too soon for his liking and trailed her tongue down his neck and onto his chest. She drove him crazy kissing, licking and biting her way down his body again until she was on her knees in front of him and he was dying to have her mouth around him.

She licked down the length of him and he cried out, startled by the suddenness of it. He looked down at her to find her hands in her lap demurely where she was crouched and a wicked smile curving her lips.

"Do you remember the night of the eclipse?"

He struggled to get his mind around the knowledge that she wanted to talk when all he had in him was wanton, rampant need. When he finally comprehended her question and thought back to the night in question he smiled slowly.

"Do it."

The smile she shot him was worth the knowledge that he would barely be able to move the next day when she was done with him because he knew they'd be sharing the boat.

She rested her hands against his thighs and licked the length of him again.

"Perhaps I should sit," he said shakily as his world narrowed to the woman at his feet.

"By all means."

While he sat on the edge of the bed she slipped out of her shoes and stretched out her lower back in a move that distracted him incredibly despite its innocence. Then she smiled at him, dropped to her hands and knees and crawled to him, her breasts swaying gently in the silky red concoction helping to heat his blood. Her hands glided lightly up his calves before settling again on his thighs. She shot him one last look and then she reminded him that heaven really wasn't that far away.

He ended up on his back as she used her lips, tongue and lightly teeth to drive him higher and further than he could presently recall ever going. The bedding under him was bunched in his hands, his skin dewed with sweat as his back arched and he cried her name.

Sensing how close he was to release, she sealed her lips around the end of him and sucked hard and fast. She listened with half an ear to his escalating cries until she tasted the beginning of his stream and then she deep-throated him, sealed her lips again and let her throat close around him briefly before opening up again as he came deep in her mouth. She drank him down completely before allowing her mouth to slowly release him. This caused him to shudder and moan anew for a moment and as she regained her breath she smiled in pleasure to know she still had what it took to drive him crazy after so many years.

She used her hold on his thighs to get to her feet. She spread her legs slightly and planted her hands on her hips as she watched him get his breath back. His chest stopped heaving and he closed his mouth, licking his lips as his eyes opened. The smile he shot her was supremely satisfied and hot enough to start a fire big enough to destroy the city.

"Your turn kitten."

She smiled back as he sat up; she'd expected nothing less. His fingers trailed up her thighs and his thumbs hooked in her panties to pull them down and off her hips. He waited as she stepped out of them and kicked them out of the way and then he pressed his lips to her abdomen, taking a brief moment to wonder when his second born would start to move in this precious woman's tummy. Then the scent of her wet heart drew him lower and totally blew all thoughts but her pleasure from his mind.

Realising the edge of the bed put him too high for what he wanted to do with her, he gently pushed her back a few feet and knelt in front of her. He took a moment to gaze at the breathtaking view at eye level before he licked a long, wet line down her thigh. Her breath sighed out of her as he reached her knee when what he really wanted was to hear her beg. He blew air out of his mouth as he crossed her core and watched her legs tremble. He turned his head to the side and set his teeth in her silky skin. He bit til he knew he was close to causing her pain before he pulled back and licked the bite. He moved a little further down and repeated the motion. He worked his way down the rest of her thigh to her knees, catching her when her legs gave and she sobbed a little in his arms.

"Please," she whispered.

He laid her back gently on the bed and kissed her tenderly. "Please what Em?"

She arched her back and gripped his hair to move his head down her body. He resisted and said, "You need to tell me what you want love."

She thrashed a little as he trailed his fingers over her body but he wasn't touching her where she wanted and with a little sob she whispered, "Bring me with your mouth."

He smiled at her and wiggled down her body. He spread her legs wider and blew air across her opening again before licking from the bottom to the top of her. She cried out above him and spread her legs wider still as she lifted her hips for a better angle. He continued to lick at her like she was a ice cream with slow, languorous strokes and when he judged that she was close by the escalating volume of her screams he locked his lips around her clit and sucked hard. The louder she screamed, the more he sucked until she was hoarse with it and nearly spent. Then he climbed back up her body and sunk his once again aroused penis into her rippling, clenching depths.

He looked down at her and watched as she fought to see him as he rested above her. He struggled to control his reaction to her constant clenching around him. He dropped his head and gently nuzzled the soft skin below her ear. When she arched into him again he lifted his head to see a lazy, come-hither smile on her sensuous lips.

"You ready to go again kitten?"

Her answer was a roll of her hips and a purposeful clenching of her inner muscles that threw his head back and brought a guttural groan to his lips. He kissed her hungrily as his hands got to work to free her breasts from the form-fitting bustier. Her hands slid down slick skin and the defined muscle that came from daily running, frequent gym workouts and the often physical aspects of the job. She gripped his ass and pulled him closer as she brought her legs up to wrap around his waist.

He finally got the bustier open and latched his lips on one of her sensitive nipples as his hand palmed her other breast and squeezed until she cried for him to stop. He shifted his attentions to her other nipple as he started moving in her. He kissed his way up her chest til he could share hot, open-mouthed kisses with her. She rolled him over and rode him with her hands on his shoulders and his hands settled on her hips. By this time they were so hot for each other they lasted seconds before they exploded around each other.

She folded around him and gasped for breath, her chest heaving and her heart racing like crazy. Her head came to rest on his shoulder and she smiled slightly to hear his heart racing faster than hers. She yawned hugely and snuggled closer.

"I've come to an important conclusion," Aaron murmured as he gently kissed her temple.

"Mmm?" she replied drowsily.

"We should frame this little enticement with the slogan 'Heaven on Earth'."

She smiled happily and fell asleep thinking they really had recreated heaven on earth.

End-

**A/N: Woo! I think I'll go take a cold shower now.**

**Stay tuned for the next piece; M is for…**

**As always I love reviews, so please feel free to let me know what you think.**


	13. M is for Move My Heart

**A/N: M was always going to be this piece in one form or another. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.**

**Rated K for short, sweet and oh so fluffy...**

Move My Heart

"Where's Emily?" JJ asked as she waited to start the morning meeting.

Aaron smiled fondly and rolled his eyes. "Where else? She said she'd be right behind me after a quick toilet break...but that was about ten minutes ago," he finished slowly as a little niggle of worry wound through him.

"Do you want me to go see if she's okay?" Garcia asked as she prepared to do just that.

"No need," Reid said as he spotted his pregnant co-worker walking towards the room.

They all turned to her as she entered the room. It was immediately obvious to them all that she'd been crying; yet the smile on her face was the one she generally reserved only for family.

She walked to Aaron's chair as JJ asked what was wrong. She wasn't sure if she wanted to just blurt out her news so she shook her head slightly at the room at large and did something completely unprofessional and totally out of character in a public setting. She walked to Aaron and straddled his lap facing him and taking his hands, she placed them on her abdomen. Then she waited.

The first flutters, faint as a butterfly's wings, had become a common occurrence over the last few weeks. She'd thought seriously about telling Aaron immediately but since she could barely feel anything at all and then only when she concentrated and wasn't moving, she'd elected to wait for something more solid before she said anything. As the weeks passed with no actual movement to feel she'd become steadily more despondent, despite assurances from her doctor that it wouldn't be long now before she actually _felt_ the baby kick.

She felt strongly that the baby had kicked hard the night before but when nothing more had happened after that one solid thump she figured her mind had talked her into feeling something she wanted so badly before it actually happened that she'd dismissed it as nothing but fancy. She pushed her disappointment down yet again and went about the rest of her night all but ignoring her pregnancy and the child growing within. Then this morning in the shower it had happened again, and again in the lift. Wondering if she was going slowly insane and knowing she was about to start bawling from the stress of it all, she'd quietly excused herself and ducked into the bathroom.

She was just drying her face after her brief bout of tears when the movements in her abdomen grew so strong and so constant that she'd been frozen to the spot for long minutes, unable and unwilling to do more than stand there and wonder at what was happening within her body. The realisation that she was crying again hadn't dampened her joy even slightly and the desire to share this with her husband was suddenly so strong she could barely breathe with it.

Realising she was still barely breathing as she waited anew for the movement that had placed them both in what would otherwise have been a compromising situation if they weren't married she slowly let out the air dammed in her lungs and drew in a soft breath as it happened again, right under Aaron's right hand.

The slight frown and the clear concern on his face for her melted into a heart-stopping grin as he pressed just a little more firmly over that one spot. Seconds later he was rewarded with a double kick that made him laugh.

"Footy player for sure," he murmured as he hooked a hand behind her head and kissed her with all the love he was suddenly sure he would burst with.

Dave cleared his throat slightly and shifted in his chair to exchange happy smiles with the rest of the team as everyone attempted in some small way not to intrude on the too-intimate moment occurring just feet from them. Reid was bright red and Garcia was surreptitiously wiping away a couple of tears.

Emily pulled back and gasped in air as she rested her forehead against his. He smiled at her again and she smiled back, feeling more at ease than she had in months. Under their joined hands on her stomach, the baby kicked as if it knew it had its parents undivided attentions already.

Smiling gently Emily corrected her husband. "Ballerina extraordinaire."

End-

**A/N: Great! Now I'm feeling clucky... **

**Stay tuned for the next piece; N is for…**

**As always I love reviews, so please feel free to let me know what you think.**


	14. N is for Naughty 'N' Nice

**A/N: Hello all! I am over and into the second half of the alphabet and I seem to be doing a little better at updating so I will try to hold to my current schedule and continue to pump these out. However please bear with me as I would prefer to keep up with the excellent quality you have come to expect and that I prefer to give and sometimes the only way to do that is to take a little bit longer.**

**Thanks to Hazmatt for continuing to review **_**everything**_** and welcome back to fanficlover. Glad I continue to please and thanks so much for the absolutely awesome reviews you have been leaving me with. This is a little more along the lines of what you asked for while still continuing with the timeline I have in mind.**

**The rating for this piece is M because Emily's feeling just a little bit naughty...**

Naughty 'N' Nice

"Hey Carrie. Emily and the kids in bed?"

Carrie looked up with a warm smile and Aaron marvelled at the change the last month of safety and security had wrought in his young nanny's life. She was more at ease with the world in general and him in specific. She was even growing more comfortable around other males though he knew it wasn't always easy for her to forget her past enough to relax in new situations. But she was perfect for them and that was the main thing. Jack adored her, Emily adored her and strangely, so did he.

"The boys are out cold. Emily's too energised to be asleep but she did retire to your room with advice to be passed on to you running along the lines of 'get your ass up here yesterday', or something like that."

He grinned. "In the interests of having a bed and a hot body to sleep with for the foreseeable future, I'll do just that. Night Carrie."

She returned his grin. "Night Aaron. I'll be at least another hour before I go to bed."

He nodded and left the room whistling softly. Carrie had just given him an hour to get Emily screaming and he thought if she was that energised, there was no way he was going to give up the opportunity.

He entered the bedroom and looked around. Emily had gone with candles again, admitting that she was enjoying soothing scents in the air and the softer light in the evening when she was tired. Unfortunately he didn't see his gorgeous wife anywhere.

Hearing noise from the bathroom he smiled. It didn't sound like it'd be too long before she joined him. He removed his shoes and socks, slipped out of his shirt and singlet and was just pulling his belt from its loops when the door opened behind him. He turned with a warm smile to greet his wife and found he couldn't breathe as he took in the vision in front of him.

She was naked. Only the smile on her face kept his gaze from staying on her ripening body; it was predatory and hungry. She was eyeing him as if wondering how long he'd last under her and he suddenly thought an hour wouldn't be nearly long enough if she got her way.

She stalked towards him with enough sass that he thought maybe he'd missed something that day.

"Hey baby."

Her only answer was to strip him of his pants and shove him down on the bed. She followed, her knees on either side of his body as she leaned in to kiss him with lips and tongue and teeth. He lifted his hands to cup her cheeks but found his wrists grasped in her hands and pressed to the bed. She continued to kiss him, stopping only long enough to catch a quick breath every now and then. His thoughts had completely fled, narrowed down to the feel of her hips around his, her feminine centre pressed to his belly, hands on his wrists and her mouth devouring his.

Her hands traced feather-light down his arms and across his pectoral muscles to his nipples. She teased them til he arched into her in a silent plea for her hands to wander elsewhere. She ignored that plea, sliding her hands back to his wrists before she shifted her head down to his chest. After blowing air lightly along his skin she dropped her head and kissed her way down his chest.

Every time he moved to participate in the seduction she was weaving she stopped him cold until he allowed her to regain control. Only then would she continue on her way. He was left with a death-grip on the bedding on either side of him from wanting to touch her and not being allowed to give his desire free reign. Not that he was complaining about his treatment however...

By the time she slid over him and took him inside he was so on edge it took only three undulations of her hips before his body flew apart within her. That she came just after he did was a testament to how much pleasure she'd accrued from pleasuring him.

He snuggled her close when he could finally move and marvelled that she'd been so quiet as she loved him; it was totally out of character and yet he'd never felt closer to her. He stroked her hair gently and then shifted her enough to bring the bedding up over them when she shivered.

"Not that I'm complaining sweetheart but what got into you?"

She shifted off his body to lie at his side and smile at him. "I thought I might reward your patience with me and my see-sawing emotions over the last few months. I woke up feeling really good this morning and then the doctor's appointment went so well that I just had to share the love I was feeling."

"Feel free to share anytime you like."

She laughed softly and suddenly sat up to sit cross-legged beside him. "So ask me about the doctor's appointment."

"I'd really rather just lie here and admire the view," he said in a choked voice.

She whacked him lightly on the side of the head. "Focus buddy; ask me about the appointment."

He shifted on the pillows until he was in a better position to attempt to focus on her face more than the so delectable rest of her. "Okay I'll bite; what happened with the doctor's appointment?"

She bounced slightly and beamed at him. "Everything is looking good and though the baby is still a little small, the progression is still normal for the gestation."

"You're still bouncing so I know there's more." He lifted a hand to tug lightly at her hair as her smile grew. God she was stunning. He surged up and kissed her quickly but deeply. He settled back satisfied at the slightly glazed, very happy look on her face.

She shook her head slightly. "That was naughty but as I am in a frame of mind for naughtiness, I shall let this go. Now today, as my grand news, the baby was finally in a position for the doctor to discover and share the sex."

He wanted to throttle her as she sat there calmly and watched him with her happy smile. She was going to make him ask, he could tell.

"Still biting; is it a boy or a girl?"

The sudden tenderness on her face as her hands came to rest on her abdomen rocked him to the core and before he could analyse the move he was kissing her again as his hands came to rest over hers.

They pulled back after several longs minutes of intimate connection and she whispered, "We're having a girl. A beautiful ballerina extraordinaire."

He bore her back to the bed as he swallowed emotion strong enough to drown him and worked his way down to the growing swell of their child between them. He spent several minutes just placing light kisses wherever her felt or saw movement, marvelling at how he was suddenly wondering how he'd survive parenthood with a daughter to love and protect. He decided the only way to get through it was to curtail dating until she was thirty and even then it might be too soon. He'd have to play that one by ear, for sure.

"Hey there little one. I am your daddy and I just want to tell you how very precious and how very loved you are already. Your big brother is so excited about getting to meet you and your mamma and I are so delighted that you are growing so healthy and strong. I have no doubt that you are going to come out of there just as stunningly beautiful as your mamma and that you will easily be smarter than both of us simply because you are the very best of us both.

"I love you so much..." his voice trailed off in a slight sob and he looked up as Emily shifted under him, sitting up and cupping his cheek. He looked up at her to see understanding balanced with love and adoration as she gazed down at him.

He sat up and folded her close, wanting the intimacy of this tender moment to never end. For long moments they rested like this before they snuggled back into bed. He was suddenly exhausted, as if he'd been up for five days straight with the most gruelling case ever. Realisation dawned that Emily was already asleep beside him and content that all was right with the world that was most precious to him in that moment, he closed his eyes and dreamt of a little girl with a laugh like sunlight and hair and eyes the colour of his favourite chocolate.

End-

**A/N: Sigh. Moments like these are just meant for Hallmark.**

**Stay tuned for the next piece; O is for…**

**As always I love reviews, so please feel free to let me know what you think.**


	15. O is for Ooh Baby

**A/N: My most sincerest apologies to everyone for the delay in getting this chapter out. My work was moving (I'll never complain about moving house ever again) and for the last two weekends I've had no energy for anything. Then one of my favourite authors brought out the newest and final book in her series and I found I just couldn't put it down and that delayed everything even more.**

**Sorry to fanficlover for not going where you hoped it would for O...it just didn't fit with what I wanted for this instalment. But thanks for the amazing review and thanks also to Hazmatt and babygurl0506 for your reviews as well.**

**This piece is rated T for a little bit of naughtiness...**

**And now on with the chapter.**

Ooh Baby

Spencer Reid stepped through the front door of the apartment he now shared with his fiancée Austin and smiled. The vacuum was running but it wasn't the loudest noise he could hear. The radio was playing but again, it wasn't the loudest noise he could hear. No, the loudest noise he could hear was his woman, singing along to the radio at the top of her slightly tone-deaf lungs as she vacuumed the house.

He grinned because he couldn't not; Austin had had that effect on him right from the start and not a day had gone by that her quirky attitudes and zest for life hadn't affected him or turned him on in some way. Today was no different.

He slipped his bag and shoes off and walked silently into the living room. The vacuum may have been running but it certainly wasn't being used as it should have as she somehow used it as a partner for her funky moves around the room. He leaned against the door frame and watched her hungrily as he waited for her to notice that he was home. As he often did when he was watching this woman who had faced death and beaten it and come out of it with her joyous spirit intact, he wondered if she knew just what she did to him and how he could possibly have been so lucky as to find that she was as in love with him as he was with her.

She performed another rotation around the room before she noticed him and when she did, the smile she shot him lit up the room and fired his blood hotter ever before. She turned off the vacuum as he perused her old-fashioned denim overalls over a cropped top that didn't cover more than her generous breasts. Her feet were bare and every single one of her nails from feet to hands was purple. She was his complete opposite in almost every way and yet she took his breath away.

She sashayed up to him and held out her hand as a love ballad came on the radio. There was normally no way he would be caught dead dancing and Austin knew well about his two left feet, but still she invited him to dance with a look and smile that he couldn't say no to. She linked her arms around his neck and kissed him as they did little more than sway to the music. He trailed his hands down her sides until he could grasp her hips and pull her closer, pressing her up against the erection currently driving all thought from his brain. She went up on tiptoe to be even closer to him and purred as she nipped at his lower lip.

"Do you know, I've been thinking about you all day?"

"I think it's safe to say not a minute goes by that thoughts of you don't intrude in my day. I'm getting better at not blushing at some of them too."

She laughed and shot him a look that might have made him nervous if he didn't have the weekend in front of him and if she weren't pressed up against him quite so close.

"Do you know I was thinking we should be just a little bit naughty tonight and do something we would normally get into a lot of trouble doing if we were caught; but since we aren't going to get caught, it shouldn't be too much of an issue, now should it?"

He grinned down at her. "Experience with you over the last few years has taught me the downside to agreeing to what you say without having any knowledge of the plan so I'm not agreeing to anything until you tell me what you are driving at."

She frowned at him slightly and because he didn't like it when she wasn't happy with him, he kissed her senseless as his hands rubbed lightly against the silken skin of her back under the overalls. She melted against him with a moan and he smiled with pleasure at the knowledge of his affect on her. When she pushed back from him a minute later, it took her several more minutes to catch her breath and when she spoke it had a husky quality to it.

"You really don't play fair. Oh well, I don't think I'll complain about it this time. Now, about our plans for the night, I thought we should do something totally outrageous for me and completely out of character for you."

He sighed with fake heaviness. "And we're back to being wary again. All right gorgeous, what did you have in mind?"

She bounced slightly and shot him a look that came close to placing terror in his heart.

"What are your thoughts on skinny dipping Dr Reid?"

New Section-

"Did you notice Reid this morning?" JJ asked Emily excitedly as she linked arms with the older woman.

Emily's smile was slightly strained but genuinely amused. "I was actually more interested in the hickey I'm pretty certain I spotted on Dave's neck while I helped him pick up some folders he'd dropped."

JJ's eyes lit up. "Really? We must investigate. So Dave turns up with a hickey and Reid turns up and immediately blushes whenever Austin, water or swimming is mentioned." Emily shot her a curious look and JJ grinned. "I asked how his evening was and if he or Austin did anything interesting. He bolted away from me, his face as red as a lobster. He returned while I was asking Kelly about her evening and found out from her that she and Brad spent the evening at the local pool swimming. He was looking a little faint despite the new blush when Derek asked how the water was. So he rushed off again. It was really very entertaining and completely intriguing."

"It definitely sounds like it would have been entertaining and I would definitely like to know what the good doctor has been up to."

JJ frowned slightly. "Honey, are you feeling alright. You look kind of pale and your smile isn't sparkling as much as normal."

Emily smiled slightly. "Sorry Jayje. I'm not really feeling that well today."

"Hotch let you out of the house not feeling well?"

Emily snorted as her smile turned wry. "Of course not. I'm sure he would have insisted I stay home today if he hadn't left sometime in the wee hours of the morning after an urgent call from Strauss."

"Sorry to interrupt ladies but I need you both in the meeting room now."

"Emily isn't feeling well," JJ said quickly before her friend could stop her and ignored the dirty look shot her way.

Hotch waved her off and studied his wife's pale face. "How bad is it?"

She smiled slightly. "I don't think I can adequately pinpoint what is wrong. I just feel _off_. I'm good for work though and if we have to go out on a case I can catch a nap on the plane and I'm sure that will help."

"I wish I could say this case requires a plane trip but we'll be staying local. Can you deal with that?"

"I'll deal with it. Don't worry about me. There's a reason I didn't mention it when I popped my head around your door when I first arrived."

He cupped her face and gently kissed her temple. She walked to the meeting room as Aaron called the rest of the team in.

They were discussing what they would need to do to ensure a positive outcome in finding the missing child when an agent appeared in the doorway and knocked briefly. Hotch frowned at the man.

"We're in the middle of working out how to save a child. I'll come find you when I'm done."

"The message is actually for SSA Morgan and it's urgent from his fiancée."

Derek shot up in his chair from where he was slouched. "What did Jordan say?"

"Her waters broke and she's called for an ambulance because she can't get hold of her mother to take her to the hospital."

"Hotch, I'm sorry..."

"Don't be sorry; just go."

Derek rushed out of the room and the other agent followed behind.

"Hotch."

Aaron turned his head to look at Dave and the older agent pointed to Emily on his other side. He turned the other way to find Emily was white as a sheet, sweat beginning to bead on her face and a look of agony in her eyes as her hands pressed against her abdomen. She appeared to be holding her breath.

"Emily what is it?"

She looked at him and the fear in her eyes took his breath away and caused his heart to race. "I don't know but whatever it is it hurts like hell and I can't imagine it's a good thing."

He looked round the table at the remaining agents and saw assurance on their faces as Kelly said firmly, "We're perfectly capable of handling this case with just the four of us and Garcia. You take care of Emily and we'll take care of getting Matthew back."

He didn't need to be told twice. He bolted down to his office to retrieve his wallet and car keys and to Emily's desk to grab her bag and then bolted back to get her. By the time he returned to the room, he found she was barely conscious. He lifted her up and turned out of the room. An agent at the lift pressed the ground floor button for him and kept everyone else waiting from getting in and slowing his journey down.

By the time he peeled rubber out of the parking lot, with Emily unconscious beside him, he could barely breathe he was so afraid for her. Deciding a ticket was the least of his worries, he floored it across town and parked in a no parking zone right outside the Emergency room. They could tow the car for all he cared; if he lost Emily his life would cease to be worth living.

Personnel responded instantly to him as he rushed in with Emily in his arms. He used his badge to stay as close to her as possible and waited an anxious minute as they got her hooked up to machines to hear her heartbeat. An obstetrician had been phoned to come down and check the baby but hadn't arrived when the doctor in charge asked about him whether he knew if she'd ever had her appendix out.

"What? No, I think she still has it."

"Has she been having pains in her abdomen over the last few days?"

"Not that she's mentioned to me. She was fine last night and said this morning she woke up feeling off but she couldn't pinpoint _what_ was off."

The doctor nodded and put the portable chunky Doppler wand against Emily's abdomen. He moved it about and studied the results for a moment before nodding once and ordering a theatre to be prepared stat.

"It may be some consolation to know the baby's heart rate appears strong and healthy. Unfortunately for Emily her appendix appears to have ruptured. If we don't go in to remove it and repair the damage this will kill her and the baby both."

"Do what you need to do to save them."

After that he was forced out of the room and a helpful nurse took him up to the room where he could wait for the news about the success of the surgery. She left him there and he paced over to the window and set himself up to watch the skyline until he knew for sure the love of his life would pull through this latest disaster.

New Section-

"Excuse me, Agent Morgan? Doctor told me to pass on that you won't be able to see Jordan for another hour while they get her settled but you can go down to the nursery if you choose to see your son while you wait."

Derek shot the nurse a delighted smile and quickly followed her directions down to the nursery. Jordan was considered one of the lucky few to have such a quick labour at just under six hours for her first child and though the baby was a good four weeks early and slightly jaundiced, the doctor had been extremely pleased with the initial tests run on the otherwise healthy baby boy. Now Jordan was being cleaned up and settled in her private room and he was off to bond with his son. He couldn't think of anything better to do in that moment.

He checked his stride as the nursery came in sight and the man standing outside the window registered. His heart lurched sickeningly as a horrifying thought slammed into him with enough force to make him stumble. Emily wasn't due for another 13 weeks, so what the hell was her husband doing down here?

"Hotch?"

End-

**A/N: Started out light and playful and I know that I was originally thinking it would stay that way but somewhere in there my brain short-circuited and it took a turn for the worst. And now you'll have to wait for P in order to know what's happening. Mwah ha ha!**

**Stay tuned for the next piece; P is for…**

**As always I love reviews, so please feel free to let me know what you think.**


	16. P is for Patient Patience

**A/N: Sorry again for the length of time between postings. I have no excuses this time for not having this out sooner and I'm not even going to attempt to guess when the next post will be after this one. I keep getting it wrong. **

**Thanks to Hazmatt and babygurl0506 for your reviews. For as long as I have an audience I shall continue this saga I started with a little comfort.**

**Please feel free to review, even if it is just a short and sweet review (or even a not so sweet review). I love to have feedback to work with.**

**This piece is rated K+ and just fills in a little bit on the way to the end.**

Patient Patience

"Do you realise how many hours I've spent flat on my back staring at ceilings exactly like this one and smelling rooms exactly like this one in the past few years?"

Aaron smiled slightly but didn't look up from the paperwork he was looking at as Jack answered his mother's question.

"I don't know mummy but you have more lives than a cat. I don't know what that means exactly but daddy wouldn't lie about it."

He snorted, turned it into a cough and turned the page.

"I see. What daddy meant is that I've come close to dying far too many times for his liking but that each time I should have died I didn't. I personally don't know what any of that has to do with cats but the saying has been around for more years than all of us combined so we should just believe that it is true."

"Wow, all together we're really old, aren't we?"

He coughed again and signed his approval on Derek's requested adjustment to his paternity leave.

"Yes we are and obviously daddy as the oldest is the one we have to blame for that isn't he?"

He could almost hear the frown in his son's voice but he didn't dare look up while he was struggling to contain so much laughter.

"I don't know if I'm allowed to blame daddy for being old. I think we discussed this a year ago and he said it wasn't allowed."

"Right then, daddy and I will have a conversation later about that."

"Okay mummy. Can I have a cuddle?"

"Always baby mine. Always."

New Section-

"You do realise I'm sick and tired of hospital rooms by now, don't you?"

He smiled tenderly at his wife and gently stroked her cheek with a finger. "If that's the case you need to stop scaring me half to death and nearly dying on me. I'm not enjoying this anymore than you are. And at the risk of being thumped, I'll point out that patience is a virtue."

"Highly overrated and negligible to this discussion.

He laughed at her as she sighed softly and changed the subject. "Jordan came to see me today. She was telling me how Derek was ready to throttle you but she couldn't quite figure out why because he wasn't making a lot of sense."

He cleared his throat and said sheepishly, "While I was waiting for you to get out of surgery I went down to the nursery to admire the babies and I noticed Derek and Jordan's son was there. So I was admiring him in particular when Derek walked up to see his son and he mistakenly thought I was there because something had gone wrong with you and you'd had the baby prematurely. By the time I got the message across that the baby was still fine to my knowledge, he was pretty upset with me for scaring him."

"That makes sense. Did you suggest he come see me so that I can set him straight?"

"He isn't talking to me at the moment so I haven't had the opportunity, no. However I was going to go see Jordan and extend my congratulations to her so I'll see if I can pin him down long enough to get it all sorted out."

"Smart man. Do you want to sneak me out of here so I can do the same?"

"Didn't you say you saw Jordan this morning?"

"Your point being...?"

He grinned. "Sorry love. I have express instructions to ensure you stay in bed for at least another 24 hours before you can start moving about."

She glared at him and replied grumpily, "Go see Jordan now and get out of my sight before I strangle you."

He left the room laughing. A couple of minutes later he knocked lightly on the door of the private room Jordan had been given and waited. When it opened, Derek frowned at him.

"Jordan's busy and I'm still not talking to you."

"Unfortunately that won't wash anymore because my wife has ordered me to get it sorted. Do you want me to go back and tell Emily that I was here and willing and you refused to hear my apology? Cause if you do, I'm thinking I might drag you down to her room to tell her for me."

Derek muttered something under his breath Aaron chose to ignore and turned his head. A moment later he sighed. "Come in for a few minutes."

He pushed the door open wider and returned to Jordan's side. Aaron walked forward slowly as Derek lifted his son into his arms and started to burp the tiny baby. He extend his congratulations while he waited and admired up close Benjamin David Morgan.

"Is Emily feeling any better?"

He grinned at Jordan. "She's turning grumpy, which is usually the sign I look for to ascertain her health. The doctor insists she stay in bed another day, which has not gone down well, but she's fine. She should be out of here by Thursday."

"How's Jack handling this?"

"Amazingly well. Carrie is spending a lot of one-on-one time with him with Toby's help to get to the bottom of his fears and insecurities and he's really responding well. We're trying to talk Carrie into taking a psychology or counselling course since she is proving to be such a natural in this area. So far no joy but we'll keep trying. After all, we won't always need a nanny." 

Derek looked up. "You really lucked out with Carrie, didn't you?"

He nodded. "We can't imagine doing it without her now and thankfully we won't have to; she's admitted to feeling safe for the first time in more years than she can count and she doesn't want to do anything to change that."

"Can you put out the word that we are looking for a nanny? Maybe someone young like Carrie? Jordan would like to come back to work at the end of her maternity leave which will mean sorting things out as soon as possible to find someone we actually like working with us."

"What about either set of parents?"

"Mum doesn't want to relocate permanently though she'll happily come out for a month or two to help out if required."

"And unfortunately, neither of my parents have forgiven me for getting pregnant out of wedlock and still being unwed. They also don't approve of my chosen career, the fact that I want to eventually return to it and they especially don't approve of Derek. I don't know why yet, but I'll keep bugging them until I know for sure either way."

"Sometimes it just doesn't make any sense. When I eventually took Emily home to meet my mother after we were married as a courtesy, mother's reason for not liking her is that she isn't Haley. When I pointed out that I'm happy with Emily and so is Jack, she told me Jack was too little to know better and I was still grieving for Haley and couldn't yet see how big a mistake I'd made."

Derek's jaw dropped. "She couldn't have been that cold."

He nodded. "Worse than that was that she said that in front of Jack _and_ Emily. Emily looked like she was about to cry and Jack did start crying. He shouted at _'nanna'_ that she wasn't allowed to talk to _his_ mummy that way and what did she know anyway since she was always so mean. I was trying to decide if I should berate Jack for speaking so rudely to a member of the family or if I should applaud his defence of my wife and his mother when Emily said with quiet dignity that perhaps she wasn't Haley but she loved Jack with everything within her and since she was the woman I'd had sex with first, she clearly had the prior claim regardless of how long I'd been with my first wife. She then stood to her feet, offered her hand to Jack and the two people I love most in the world walked out and left me with an extremely pissed off mother."

Derek and Jordan laughed and little Benjamin started at the noise and began crying. Jordan shooed them out of the room with the baby so she could get some rest so Derek kissed his fiancée with considerable enthusiasm and followed Aaron out of the room.

By the time they returned to Emily's room, Benjamin had settled down and the adults had sorted through their issues. Emily was delighted to see the baby and immediately demanded a cuddle with the baby. So while she cuddled the three adults discussed parenthood and the Hotchner's upcoming baby shower.

And Emily decided she could be a patient patient a little while longer if this was what she could look forward to while she convalesced.

End-

**A/N: So as you've probably figured out, time was a little bit fluid while I was writing fallout. I am however still very much on schedule.**

**Stay tuned for the next piece; Q is for…**

**As always I love reviews, so please feel free to let me know what you think.**


	17. Q is for Quantity vs Quality

**A/N: Hello to everyone out there. This is the piece I have been dreading the most because I have been wracking my brain for months trying to come up with a decent idea for the letter Q. Then I'd just posted P and it suddenly came to me and here we are...**

**To babygurl0506 - thanks for the awesome review! There is another faithful reviewer who is anonymous to me but awesome none the less but for the most part at the moment the three of you are it. (HINT HINT for anyone out there reading and not reviewing).**

**Thanks also to fanficlover and Hazmatt for continuing to keep up with me. I too think Jack and Emily are adorable together and I'll apologise in advance for the fact that Jack is absent here in this piece.**

**This piece is rated M; no action, just a lot of talk...**

Quantity vs Quality

"What do you think they're talking about so intensely?"

Aaron raised an eyebrow. "Derek, you're an engaged man now so I'll give you this advice for free from one married man to a soon-to-be-married man; if you don't ask, you don't need to worry about it or else hurt yourself over it, whatever _it_ is."

Reid listened to this piece of advice with intense concentration and Derek frowned as he tried to figure out if he was going to get himself in trouble if he followed this strange bit of advice. Of course, Dave, Brad, Will and Kevin were all nodding agreement of this bit of advice and since they were all married or had been at one point, maybe it wasn't such a bad idea after all...

Then the ladies all turned to look at them intently and the identical look on all their faces had him shuddering.

"You know Hotch, maybe you're right about that. I really don't need to know."

"Smart man."

New Section-

"I'm sorry; I just can't see it. This is Derek we're talking about. He's just so sexy I can't see him electing to give up sex for the night."

Jordan took a sip of her juice and nodded sagely. "Normally I would totally agree with you Garcia but I swear it's true. I was tired and uncomfortable and I was really struggling with how I saw myself. It wasn't the first time my self-image had slipped and the last few times he'd shown me how he saw me with some pretty mind-blowing sex. But this time, he told me to give him half an hour and then come back to the bedroom and he'd work me through my mood.

"So I arrive at the bedroom remembering the last few times and finally feeling sexy and wanton and I step into a candlelit room. The aroma in the air is soothing and as I walked forward I saw several bottles of oil. Music starts to play and he met me in the middle of the room and danced with me until I relaxed, stopping my words each time I tried to ask what he was about with long drugging kisses. I thought when he started easing me out of my clothing that we were finally getting to the good part but once I was naked he led me to the bed and had me lie down on my stomach. He'd placed cushions the length of where my legs would be and for under my chest and head so that I wasn't putting undue pressure on my abdomen. He gave me a choice of oils and then he set about massaging me from head to toe.

"I think it took him about an hour to completely massage the back of me because he took his time with it and by the time he was done I was boneless and nearly asleep and feeling better than I had the entire length of the pregnancy to that point."

The entire table sighed romantically as Jordan took another sip of her drink. "Anyway, when he was done, he pulled the sheet up to cover me so I wouldn't get cold and lightly kissed my cheek. He told me he loved me as I floated into sleep and I still swear I heard him mutter a note to himself to thank Hotch for the tips that led him to seduce me the way he did."

They turned as one to look as the men and found that table watching them with varying degrees of wariness. They were all smiling as they turned back to look at Emily, who was resting back in her chair with a cushion at her back and a hand that was almost constantly dancing across her abdomen as she traced the pattern of kicks and punches her unborn daughter was performing within her womb. She smiled back at the group.

"Despite how scary _Hotch_ can be, _Aaron_ is an out and out romantic and he never gets tired of spending countless hours relaxing me without using sex. I've been massaged just like that, though the last time I was awake enough for him to turn me over and finish up on my front."

"Did it end with sex?" Austin asked curiously as she snuck a chip from Kelly's plate.

Emily blushed and shook her head. "I fell asleep a couple of minutes after I turned over. I woke snuggled up against his nakedness and then there was definitely sex. But at the time I was just far too tired for anything that strenuous."

Garcia leaned around Emily and patted Austin's shoulder. "You picked the question so it's your turn chickee, lucky last; most romantic moment boy-wonder has ever given you."

Austin ducked her head with a shy smile. The other women at the table waited impatiently for her to share this because they could tell it was going to be good.

"He picked me up from work one night at the club I'm now tending at after calling early in the evening and telling me not to eat dinner if I could help it. We drove for about an hour before he pulled off the road and drove us up a short dirt road. He had me close my eyes for the last minute and promise not to peek and I can tell you it was almost impossible not to but I can easily say it was worth the wait.

"A minute later he parked the car and got out. A few minutes after that he came back for me and had me walk forward until he was happy and then he had me open my eyes. I spotted the candles in bowls first at four corners of a picnic blanket laden with a feast I'd never have ever dreamed of and then the view took my breath away. He'd chosen a spot that overlooked the city and the view went on for miles; it was magnificent. He said he tweaked it a bit but the idea was also Hotch's."

Emily's smile was dreamy and the flush in her cheeks said more clearly than words that sex had been involved. They all laughed and turned their attention to their meals for a few minutes before Garcia held up the hat and rattled it.

"Right then, next topic will be chosen by our gorgeous mamma-to-be."

Emily wiped her fingers and reached into the hat. They had Garcia and Austin to thank for the sex talk they were all having but the amount of fun had eclipsed any initial embarrassment any of them had felt when they began the conversation.

She opened up the piece of paper and groaned silently, making a mental note to thump JJ later for needing to know the answer to this one and glad she'd have a little time to get over it before she had to answer the question.

"Right, the culprit is JJ and the question or _questions_, depending on how you read this little piece of paper is this: How many times in one session without sleep have you had sex; the addendum is how old were you, who was it with, where was it and was it worth it?"

Austin sighed. "I was 18, his name was Craig and we were behind the school bleachers after a football game. From memory we did it about three times and would have continued but we heard noises and panicked. He was hot but I'm not sure the grass stains and having to explain where I got them to my parents was worth it."

Kelly bounced a little as she sat up straighter. "Right, this is easy. Brad is the only man I've ever had sex with so that answer's that. I was 19, on my honeymoon and in the biggest bed I'd ever seen in my life. We were in Hawaii because we couldn't afford to technically leave the country so we just left the mainland. Four times in a row and it was so darn worth it I still fantasise about it after ten years of marriage bliss."

"I'm only answering this question if you all swear on your lives that it won't get back to Derek." Jordan waited until everyone had solemnly sworn to keep all secrets told at this table. With a sigh she muttered something under her breath and answered quickly, "Five, 22, Todd, his bedroom and yes."

The entire table squealed and demanded more details that Jordan flat out refused to answer as she went redder and redder. JJ finally took pity on her and commanded the attention of the table.

"I'll tell you immediately that it was with Will, in New York right after the bombing several years ago that killed Agent Joyner." Garcia squeezed Emily's hand as the older woman obviously thought about how close she'd come to losing her husband before they even got back together. "We needed the confirmation that I was alive so we just kept coming back together again and again. Six times total and yes it was worth it because he didn't look so haunted by the time I was done."

They all took a moment to reflect on that time before Garcia perked up and said cheerfully, "My turn. Right, Kevin, on our honeymoon while in France. We'd spent the day at Disneyland and I'd met the stars and we returned to the hotel and I was so filled with love for the man that I threw him on the bed and seduced him for hours. I think at the time we went seven times before we collapsed in a happy sleep and I doubt I will ever regret that night regardless of how little I could move the next day."

Everyone laughed before looking at Emily expectantly. "I'm only telling you all this on the assumption that you never, ever mention we had this conversation with my mother."

"You have us totally intrigued sweetie so feel free to speak and know this won't ever leave the table."

Agreement given, Emily sighed and muttered, "I knew agreeing to this conversation was going to come back and bite me. Okay, I was just back from college and was a few weeks into my affair with Aaron..."

The entire table cheered and clapped; they'd already informed her that _any_ information she wanted to drop about the boss when he was younger and _before_ he was the boss was more than welcome.

With a roll of her eyes, Emily continued, "It was completely worth it and from memory we went from anywhere between 9 and 15 times but I'd honestly lost count by that point."

They gaped at her for long moments without a sound, so much so that Aaron got up and walked over to be sure everything was alright.

"Anything I need to know about over here?"

Emily shook her head and smiled up at him. "You know how you didn't want to know about _that_ conversation?"

"Oh." He recoiled slightly, shuddered and with a mumbled apology for interrupting hurried back to the men.

"Is she alright?"

"Uh huh. They're talking about woman things and sex over there."

"How'd you figure that one out?"

"You don't want to know."

Back at the girls table JJ finally remembered that it was her question and she hadn't as yet had an extremely important part answered as yet.

"So where were you both that your mother must never know about this conversation?"

Emily blushed and looked across at the far wall. "My mother's bed."

"What!" they all shouted at once.

She winced and lifted her hands in a calm down gesture. "It wasn't as if I set out on this adventure intending to end where it did. I had a craving to read a certain book and after checking the library and the other most likely places for it I went up to my mother's room and found it there. I was just about to pick it up when _I_ was picked up from behind and tossed at the bed. I rolled over, Aaron jumped me and said I had two options; cowardice or action. I chose action and the housekeeping lied to my mother and told her bleach was accidentally dumped on the bedding and mattress which would explain why all of it was new the next time mother came home."

JJ muttered, "I don't know if I'll ever be able to look at him the same way again."

Emily wadded up her napkin and threw it at her friend. "Hey you can't complain; you asked and I answered. Would you have preferred me to lie?"

A resounding yes from the entire table had Emily laughing until she was hiccupping. She finally settled down and Garcia pulled out the next question.

"How did I know I'd pull my own question out of the hat. Oh well, I want to know about your kinkiest sex. Who it was with and why it was kinky. I don't need other details."

Emily grimaced. "I think what you want to know is bad enough but you did ask for it. With Aaron," this was followed by a chorus of duh's which Emily spoke over the top of; "in the swimming pool at home in the middle of the day with a full house staff surrounding us."

"Were you caught?" Kelly asked as everyone leaned forward.

Emily sighed with remembered longing. "Yup; all three times."

They all laughed and turned to Austin. "With Reid and it was skinny dipping. This was obviously kinky cause it was with Reid but the additional kink is that it _is_ illegal in this state."

JJ and Emily exchanged knowing looks; this explained Reid's weird behaviour from a few weeks earlier.

"Mine's another easy one. With Brad on my parents boat, three weeks before the wedding. The kink was my parents were up on deck and we were supposed to be downstairs sorting the last minute issues with the wedding. To this day, I still don't know if they knew or not."

Jordan ducked her head and sighed before she spoke. "If I say I'm a member of the mile high club, do I need to go into details?" The flat looks she received from the entire table had her muttering before continuing, "I knew that was a dumb question but I had to ask.

"Fine; I was 21 and flying home from Europe after summer holidays. A steward on the plane thought I was cute and since I thought he was cute in return, when he extended the invitation I said yes and it just happened. I don't think I ever knew his name."

"I think Jordan's winning this round," Emily stated dryly and everyone laughed while Jordan threw a napkin at her.

JJ sighed despondently. "Is it sad to say my kinkiest sex was the first time I ever did it simply because it _was_ the first time?"

Jordan and Garcia patted her hands in sympathy and Emily said gently, "It's okay; it simply shows you have more maturity than the rest of us put together."

There was an instant grumbling from the girls around the table about that remark but JJ looked happier so Emily just ignored them all.

Garcia held up her hands and garnered everyone's attention. "Right then; to answer my own question. I was 16 when we did it in the back of Teddy's car at the drive-in cinema. It was cold, so the heater was on and all the glass had fogged up."

They all nodded as if they'd expected to hear nothing less and JJ pulled out the next question out of the hat just as Dave arrived to tell them the guys were going whether they were ready or not. JJ flicked a look at the question and threw herself into the act of encouraging everyone to get ready to go.

"I think it's a fine time to head home."

Garcia lunged for the piece of paper in her hand and JJ lunged back out of the way. After a brief tussle witnessed by a curious table and an extremely befuddled male profiler, JJ won and Garcia sat back with a bright smile encompassing everyone at the table.

"So when are we meeting for round two?"

Dave walked quickly back to the table the guys were standing around unable to answer Kevin's questions of why his wife was being yelled at and attacked with wadded up napkins.

End-

**A/N: Just a little bit of fun...**

**Stay tuned for the next piece; R is for…**

**As always I love reviews, so please feel free to let me know what you think.**


	18. R is for Revulsion

**A/N: I'm trying to make up for leaving so much time in between postings as of late so here's two in one night. This one's just a little darker than the rest so just be warned.**

**This piece is rated M because just thinking about it makes me shudder...**

Revulsion

She felt...well, dirty and unclean came to mind but _filthy_ resounded so much louder in her head so she'd go with that. How _anyone_ could do _that_ to little girls was completely beyond her comprehension.

But they'd discovered over thirty girls, including the one they'd been called in to find, being very used and abused by about fifty men, proving that sadly it did happen. Breaking the country paedophile ring had thrilled the entire task force but she'd had to go undercover temporarily with Aaron to do it and after throwing up violently for hours afterwards, she was sure the _how_ of the breaking was going to haunt her for years...

JJ was at the door of the plane as it opened and called back with relief clearly evident in her voice, "Everyone we asked to be here when we returned is here waiting for us."

The relief they all felt was muted by the exhaustion weighing them down. For almost two weeks they'd been going nonstop and for Emily in particular, she knew she'd well and truly passed her body's newly imposed pregnancy limits and was close to collapsing. She was just glad Aaron was as aware of her needs as he was and would take care of her when she did.

He exited the plane with both their bags in hand and she whimpered to realise she'd have to deal with the stairs by herself, wondering if she'd make it down them without falling. Then she noticed Derek to her right and Dave to her left, both waiting with a hand extended up to her and the relief she felt made her giddy as she allowed them to ease her down to the tarmac.

Then she was walking to the waiting vehicles and seeing Aaron hugging Jack caused her heartache to ease somewhat. She noticed JJ and Garcia with their faces buried in the husband's shoulders, Austin holding Reid while he shuddered, Derek kissing Jordan as if the world would end if he didn't and Kelly and Brad doing the same. Then there was Dave embracing tightly the woman she vaguely remembered from the party at Dave's the day the women announced they were getting married.

Then there was just Jack. She didn't remember falling to her knees and she couldn't hear what Jack said to her but she was holding him and his sweet smell was wrapping around her and she could suddenly breathe again clearly for the first time in days.

Sound was just coming back to her when the spinning started and her world went dark.

New Section-

"Daddy, are you _sure_ mummy is alright? She's not waking up."

"She's fine baby, just very, very tired like me. I know we only just got back and we've been gone for ages but I need you to be a really good boy for Carrie while mummy and I catch up on some sleep. Is that alright?"

Jack nodded. "You don't look so good either daddy so you sleep too and when you wake up, Carrie and Toby and I will take care of the both of you."

Aaron swayed as he leaned over to hug his son and kiss him gently. "That sounds like a deal too good to pass up on buddy. See you tomorrow sometime."

He dragged his body up to bed and somehow managed to get his clothing off and stay upright long enough to shower briefly before joining his kitten in bed. She didn't stir even slightly when he snuggled up next to her but resting his head on her chest he heard her heartbeat and strangely reassured, he fell into a deep sleep plagued by little girls screaming for help and one in particular with her mother's big brown eyes and long black hair...

End-

**A/N: Sorry about the darkness but I promise the next one should be filled with fun and laughter and guys screaming 'get me out of here'...**

**Stay tuned for the next piece; S is for…**

**As always I love reviews, so please feel free to let me know what you think.**


	19. S is for Sweet Precious Love

**A/N: Please find author's notes at the end of this piece.**

**Reviews! How exciting to be getting reviews. Please write more...**

**Thanks go out to babygurl0506, Hazmatt and fanficlover for continued great reviews and I welcome moonshine-037 to the list of those who have reviewed this story. Welcome and thanks for the awesome review.**

**This piece is rated K for some super sweet moments.**

Sweet Precious Love

Aaron slipped into the bedroom and gave his eyes a moment to adjust to the dim light coming from the crack in the bathroom door. Everyone was in bed, including his wife, after he'd been detained late at work for an important meeting and he hoped to be in bed himself shortly and cuddled around his favourite woman. He was incredibly glad the week was over and there was nowhere they needed to be on a case.

He slipped into the bathroom and ten minutes later, slipped into bed to find Emily on her side with a long pillow cushioning her swollen abdomen and one arched leg. He shifted as close as he could get to her back and tucked his body in along the line of hers as she stirred in her sleep. He lifted his hand and stroked along her hair, hoping she'd stay asleep but to no avail.

"How was the meeting?"

He kissed her neck and buried his nose in her fragrant hair. "Pretty much same old same old but I did confirm that for no reason would we be called in tomorrow so we have a green light for the days' plans. Did you tell Carrie?"

"Yes. She's very excited about the whole outing. We decided not to tell the boys in advance though just in case something went wrong with the meeting."

"Hmm, probably a wise decision. How was your evening?"

"Not the greatest. I went to bed feeling nauseated and headachy."

He felt immediately guilty for not being here for her and for waking her when he finally arrived home. "I'm sorry love."

"Don't be. I'm feeling better already and I should be fine for tomorrow as long as I can sleep until ten. I don't need that long to get ready if the two of you can deal with the boys."

"Then rest; Carrie and I have your back."

She murmured agreement and slipped back into sleep.

New Section-

Emily watched Aaron play ball with two rambunctious boys running rings around him and smothered a laugh as they got the better of him yet again with their tactics. As he let out an indignant shout about cheating, she noticed Carrie doubled over from laughing where she was picking a bouquet of flowers.

She yawned hugely and looked up through the branches of the big old tree to the blue of the sky above. It was a perfect spring day with amazing blue skies and big, fluffy white clouds. The air in this oasis of a meadow was clear and crisp, a cool accompaniment to the warmth of the sun. The idea of a picnic if they were free had been building for a couple of weeks; a chance to step away from the city and take a day to enjoy spring uninterrupted by life. Being told that they were absolutely on stand-down for the next week no matter what came through had been a blessing. Aaron had woken her at her requested time looking relaxed and acting playful and Jack was ecstatic at the thought of having his father's undivided attentions for the day.

She yawned again and shifted to lie on her back. It wouldn't be comfortable for very long but perhaps if she fell asleep she wouldn't notice the discomfort. With only eleven weeks to go, her stomach had increased more than she'd like in the last week and whenever she was on her back she found that only minutes would pass and then her lungs would begin to feel constricted and she struggled to breathe normally. This wouldn't happen if she were on her side but without the support of a pillow, she wouldn't willingly rest on her side, no matter how exhausted she was. Her doctor said it was normal this late in the pregnancy but all she knew was that her sleep was interrupted and uncomfortable and it was all _that_ mans fault...

Aaron left the ball with the boys and jogged back to the picnic blanket they'd set out under the largest tree in the meadow and found himself melting. Emily was sound asleep on her back, an arm resting under her head and her free hand pressed protectively against her abdomen. He sat down carefully beside her and placed his hands on either side of hers', hoping against hope that she hadn't covered his daughter's movements with her own.

To his delight he found his little princess awake and active all the way across the expanse of smooth skin his movements had revealed. He sat in awe for several minutes, simply tracing the movements he felt, committing them to memory as he imagined his beautiful girl dancing her first ever ballet in her mother's womb. Time passed and he distantly heard Carrie join the boys on the field, challenging them to a game of soccer as they asked if he was coming back to the game.

He pushed out the noise and murmured softly, "I wonder if you'll be a bit like me and be interested in sports at all or if you'll be the quintessential little lady, wanting only girly things that I have no interest in. That might be interesting actually, since your mama has little to no interest in girly things, having no real use for them considering what she does for a living.

"But perhaps you'll be super-smart like your uncle Reid, loving book learning and all things new that you can commit to memory. Or perhaps you'll be a bit quirky like your aunt Garcia; if that's the case you should tell me now so I can brace myself for the craziness to come.

"Just know that no matter how you turn out to be in your personality you will always be my little princess and I will always love you no matter what."

He shot Emily a look as she murmured softly, her eyelashes fluttering up to reveal sleepy brown eyes that melted most of him and adversely affected another part of him in the other direction. He helped her to sit up, waited until she'd caught her breath and then he indulged in a couple of easy kisses as he lightly stroked his hand up and down her arm.

When he pulled back, she smiled at him in a way that told him the night couldn't come soon enough and looked around him with a smile. He turned beside her, settled his back to the tree and settled her into the vee of his legs as they watched the boys run rings around Carrie this time.

After a few long minutes, Emily shifted to rest her head back on his shoulder and smile up at him.

"Aaron, do you ever find yourself so overwhelmed with emotion and love that you can hardly contemplate that the moment before you is real and you can't breathe through the love you feel, it's so tangible?"

He kissed her brow lightly and smiled ruefully. "I pretty much feel that way every time I look at you anew and realise you're truly mine now and forever in every way that counts. I also get that feeling when I look at Jack sleeping and realise what I could have lost and even when I see the two of you together and find myself thinking anew how very blessed I am. Moments like today also hit that list."

She nodded slowly and shifted her gaze back to the game in front of her and agreed that moments like today were definitely meant to be cherished.

End-

**A/N: I know I promised something else entirely for this piece but after rewriting it twice and not being happy with it either time, I decided to try something different and this is the result. I honestly didn't think S was going to be a problem but apparently it was and I'm sorry if this disappoints anyone in any way as I'm still not sure I'm entirely happy with it. Hopefully I'll have better luck with T.**

**Stay tuned for the next piece; T is for…**

**As always I love reviews, so please feel free to let me know what you think.**


	20. T is for Teresa

**A/N: This piece will be entirely from another person's point of view and won't really technically feature any of our BAU guys and gals. It may not entirely make sense right now but it will definitely make sense in the future.**

**Thanks go out to Hazmatt, babygurl0506 and moonshine-037 for posting great reviews for my last chapter. Even though I wasn't entirely happy about the end product, I'm glad to know the three of you enjoyed it so much.**

**This piece is rated T just because it was necessary.**

Teresa

Teresa Montgomery stood at the window of the busy airport and watched the rain pour down outside. She sipped her coffee and checked her watch. When she'd arrived at the airport half an hour ago the board had said that all flights were on time but if that were the case, he'd be here already and they'd be on their way to dinner right now.

Not that she was surprised though. It had only just started to rain when she arrived but in the way of all late spring rains here in Cleveland the light shower had rapidly turned into the downpour obscuring her vision. That planes were still able to land safely was a miracle she wasn't going to question. He'd been incredibly busy lately and she hadn't seen him in over a month and if it weren't for his frequent phone calls indicating he was definitely still interested in her she might have thought he'd lost interest.

As a teen she'd been sought after by every jock in a three district area wanting the hot state head cheerleader as a notch on their belts. As a young adult making it big in the illustrious modelling world, male models tailed her around in the hopes of making it into her bed and making it big by being seen with her in such a competitive arena. As an adult that hadn't changed and even after she'd quit modelling there had been some days where she hadn't even been able to get out her front door without being hit upon by one young buck or another.

At 35, she was curvy but fit, with a thick mass of brown hair to her shoulder blades and green eyes he said reminded him of a perfect glass bottle; just perfect for losing himself in for hours at a time. And still she was hit upon more often than she'd like.

But through the mistakes she'd made in her youth, and her experimentation with older man in her 20's, there was definitely something to be said about an older, more experienced man that just flat out did it for her, with one man in particular being the very definite pick of the bunch.

She'd been 23 and contemplating quitting the catwalk at the height of her career. She'd passed out twice from a lack of beneficial nutrition and with her agent pushing her to lose even more weight that she felt she couldn't live without, she'd been feeling disillusioned and alone for weeks. A bunch of so-called friends had taken her out with the intention of cheering her up and had seen her eyeing up the older man sitting at a table across the restaurant from them. One of them had dared her to go over and say hello. When she'd asked who he was, they'd all gaped at her like she was crazy and proceeded to inform her that she definitely needed to get out more if she didn't know who the 43 year old world famous author was. While showering her with information one of them had let slip that he was looking for an agent to take over from the idiot he currently had employed to work for him and with the idea taking root in her mind, she'd stood up and walked across the room, ignoring the ringing in her ears and the fuzziness building in her head.

He'd looked up at her as she dropped fluidly into the chair across from him and raised an eyebrow.

"A little out of your way over here aren't you bella?"

His voice had caressed down her spine like a lovers most intimate touch and her blood had fizzed and popped in her veins, clearing her head long enough for her to make the offer that had in the end saved her life.

"I'm here because I want to be your agent. I heard you were looking for a replacement and I just know that I'm the woman you want."

He'd raised that eyebrow again and raked her from head to toe and back again, a look of mild disdain in his eyes that made her cheeks flame red and her blood-red nails dig into her palms to stop her from slapping him for disparaging her without ever saying a word.

"Do you now bella? I believe you are more than a little underdressed for the job on offer and far too skinny to be healthy in order to keep up with my gruelling schedule. So give me one good reason why I should take you up on your offer."

She'd very nearly gotten up and stalked off then and there and if it hadn't been for the sudden weakness suffusing her body and the knowledge that she suddenly couldn't even see him clearly anymore that had kept her rooted to the seat and telling the truth to this arrogant stranger.

"I know I'm unhealthy. I want to put on weight and continue doing what I've mostly loved up to this point but my agent says I'm fat and I need to lose more weight. Deep down I know if I lose any more I'll end up losing my life and even in this moment, I'm on the verge of passing out and that terrifies me more than I want to admit because one day I simply won't wake up. I want a chance to turn my life around. I have no experience as an agent, but I'm a fast study and when I'm actually healthy, there isn't one person who can keep up with me for an entire day without demanding at least a five minute break. I don't insult easily, I love to read and I travel better than anyone I know."

She'd been waiting breathlessly for his answer when she'd passed out.

She'd woken in the hospital with him sitting at her bedside and writing with pen and paper. As it turned out, it wasn't a hospital as such but more a retreat for those whose health needed special assistance to return to normal. He'd informed her that if she could get her health back over the course of the three month program, he could stick it out with his current ass of an agent and wait for her to join him.

She'd about promised him anything he wanted if he'd just give her a chance when it suddenly dawned on her that she didn't even know his name and when she'd shyly asked for it, he'd raised that perfect eyebrow yet again and asked if she always made it a habit to offer herself for work to perfect strangers and then pass out on them. After she'd sputtered indignantly for several minutes that she'd never done anything of the sort before and she never would again he'd chuckled and stood.

"You'll do nicely, I think. My name is David Rossi."

He'd left the retreat, calling only once a week to hear how she was progressing. She'd followed doctor's orders to the letter and focused mostly on doing what she'd been told to get better. The only times her focus wavered were the times she spent hours searching for information on the reclusive Dave Rossi, her new boss. Three months later when he'd returned the approval in his eyes as he'd looked her over had caused her heart to race and longing for more than just this impartial approval to fill her with purpose for her future.

Her agent had phoned to ask her if she'd join him for lunch a couple of days after she'd left the retreat. She'd lasted just two minutes at the table with him before she'd gotten up and walked out. All he'd been able to speak about was how very much work she was going to have to do to lose all her hard-won weight because she was fat. She'd sent him a letter cancelling her contract, glad that her old one had been completed and she hadn't had a chance to sign on with a new one she couldn't get out of. Calling on her friends to wish them well and tell them of her new plans, she'd been snubbed at every turn and though the hurt had cut deep, she knew her future was going to be so much brighter as a result of the changes she'd made to her life.

Over the next year, she'd learnt everything there was to know about being an agent in general and being an agent to David Rossi in particular. To say it was difficult initially was hard, particularly after making a move on him and finding out she'd be fired if she ever made another one. So she'd buried her feelings down deep, shrugged it off as a mistake she'd never make again and delved deep back into her work to try to fill the hole now growing in her heart.

When he'd started talking about rejoining the FBI she'd been in a near panic, thinking she'd lose all contact with him and that she'd somehow driven him to make this decision. On the outside she was as professional as ever, a sounding board he could trust to talk out every aspect he needed to consider before showing his hand. The realisation that he would continue to take time off for his yearly book tour and would still need her to be working behind the scenes for him throughout the year had gone a long way to easing her fear that this was it; the last moment she ever saw him.

The night before he'd gone away hunting for the week before returning to his former profession, she'd lost the battle with her mind and had again shown her hand. After nearly 7 years of repressing her feelings and taking part in empty dates and short-term relationships that came nowhere close to her heart's desire she hadn't been strong enough to continue in hiding any longer.

After treating her to their last dinner together with at least a year to pass before she saw him for his next tour he'd driven her home and surprised her with a delicate gold bracelet as a thank you for all her hard work over the years, particularly where it came to dealing with his sometimes abrasive personality when they were in private.

He'd turned as if to go and she'd yanked him back and kissed him as if her life depended on it and she thought now that perhaps it did, because if he'd rejected her again she knew she'd have to leave completely if she ever meant to find love and have a life worth living.

But he hadn't rejected her. He'd hauled her in closer to his body and kissed her as if he'd drink her down and that night she'd discovered how very Italian he could be in bed. Fiery and passionate, he'd kept her under him for most of the night, admitting only once that he'd kicked himself several times over the years for his own self-imposed rules about being intimate with her.

Her heart had soared on that knowledge alone and her joy had been enough to keep her going long after she'd normally have stopped and falling asleep in his arms had been a sweet completion to the most perfect night of her life. She'd woken alone knowing he was already away on his hunting trip only to find he hadn't yet forgotten her. A single red rose teased her with its sweet fragrance and his note had indicated he'd be thinking of her often over the coming months.

Making a vow to wait for him alone over the next year, she'd been stunned when he showed up on her doorstep after just three months to say he couldn't _not _see her. He whisked her off to dinner and the most intimate of public seductions and then at the end of the night he'd tumbled her into bed and reacquainted her with his body.

After that she'd seen him three more times that year before the tour. Unsure of what would happen on the tour, she'd booked two rooms side by side as she'd always done but she'd never needed her room because he became an extremely possessive lover where she was concerned and didn't like her sleeping in a bed without him, even on the nights where they couldn't do more than snuggle into each other. Not that she'd been complaining though because he never ceased to be thinking about her and the little ways he showed he cared wrapped up her heart tighter than ever with each day that passed.

The next year set the schedule for the intervening years, as he returned to her every weekend he had the chance and the book tour was endless months of love and pleasure that got her through the days she was no longer with him.

But now he wasn't doing the tours anymore. Though he continued to write, he no longer relied on his physical presence to sell the books. Instead he trusted that if they were meant to be read they would be and if they weren't he really didn't care anymore. Unsure of what would happen to her career and to their relationship, the relief had been huge to realise even there he had a plan that would suit them both.

He used his considerable contacts to get her in with a PR firm that primarily handled authors so that she could continue in work that she loved with a passion. And he continued to visit every moment he had a chance, proving again and again that he wasn't sick of her.

She knew of his ex-wives, of course. She'd even met the last one, as he'd been in the process of divorcing her when they first met. She knew why those women had walked away and she'd been frankly baffled by their reactions to her fiery Italian lover.

Sure, he was stubborn, arrogant, conceited and frequently abrasive. He was often single minded and particularly once he returned to the FBI, he was often deep in thought and moody. Even when he was in bed with her, she sometimes thought that just maybe he wasn't really _in_ the bed with her despite his close attention.

But she understood. Because though it took a lot to get him talking about his work, once he'd realised she wouldn't shy away from him even when he was blunt and graphic in his descriptions, he _would_ talk about his work to her. He told her not only about the good stuff but about the stuff that gave him nightmares and had him flailing in her arms in the wee hours of the morning, crying out in pain over something or other that had gone terribly wrong. She did her best to draw it out of him, to give him perspective, and to soothe the edges that most often cut him far deeper than they ever cut her.

And then there was David Rossi the hopeless romantic. He never took her directly to bed. He always insisted on dinner first, a chance for them to talk, to catch up, to get out of their systems the darkness that might be lurking under the surface waiting to explode and interrupt their time together. Only then would he take her to bed and show her how he constantly felt about her body and what she had to offer. There were the gifts and the outings and the messages when he was leaving that told her more than words ever would that if she just stuck with him, he'd eventually get the message that her heart was his and he could safely give her his own heart and know that she'd do everything in her power to protect it always. That she'd never get enough of him and walk out as his previous wives had done when they found they couldn't change the man she'd already fallen head over heels in love with.

To that end, she'd been working on a plan in the last month of his absence. The firm was opening a branch in Washington DC, just 50 minutes from Quantico and Dave's home base. She'd put her hand up to relocate and get the branch up and running and they'd jumped at the chance to send someone so seasoned to get them off the ground. She'd jumped at the chance this had given her to put her plan in motion. She hadn't told him yet, but she did intend to do so _sometime_ this weekend. He wouldn't know what hit him.

Finding her coffee cup empty she tossed it in the trash just as Dave's flight was announced as landed. She shifted to a prime position to see him as soon as he disembarked and sighed with longing as she saw him for the first time in what seemed like forever. Jeans encased his long legs, a shirt clung to the defined contours of his chest and his arm muscles rippled as he shifted his carryon bag from one hand to the other as she moved rapidly forward to greet him.

And as she kissed him with all the love in her heart she silently vowed, 'look out David Rossi; your seduction has begun.'

End-

**A/N: Wow. I definitely wasn't intending for this piece to be as long as it is, but I thought I might fill in a bit of the background on this too-secretive couple with the intention of bringing their relationship to light sometime in the near future.**

**Stay tuned for the next piece; U is for…**

**As always I love reviews, so please feel free to let me know what you think.**


	21. U is for Up and Away

**A/N: I am on a roll and loving it! I just hope it continues. Only X and Y are as yet unnamed though I have a vague idea of what to do with Y so maybe X will be my only issue. I'll see what happens. As to this one, I only got the idea as I was finishing up with Teresa and it was totally different in my head when I wrote out my little synopsis for it. Then I went for a walk and the whole thing changed to what you see below.**

**Thanks to babygurl0506 who reviewed Teresa within an hour of my posting it. You'll definitely get to know her better in my coming pieces.**

**This one would be rated D for Danger if there were such a rating but as there isn't, I'm rating this one T for a little bit of language and a lot of suspense.**

Up and Away

Agent Patrick Warner took a deep breath and prayed he'd live to see another day. With the message he had to deliver, he wasn't at all sure that was even a possibility. After knocking briefly (and wondering why he'd even bothered since he didn't wait for an invitation) he opened the door in front of him and stepped into the room with an apologetic look at Chief Strauss, who shot him a look that would have crisped him if that was even possible. Her voice, when she spoke, would have frozen him again if it were even possible.

"Agent Warner, did I or did I not, make it very, _very_ clear that this was a closed meeting; uninterruptible for any reason?"

"You did make it completely clear Mam but I'm afraid the message I have couldn't wait another hour."

Strauss frowned at him and he gulped audibly but he stood his ground because though the woman could fire him, there were four agents in this room who would rip him to shreds if the message didn't make it to them in time and one of them was pregnant. Having five sisters, all of whom had at least one child, he knew better than to mess with a pregnant woman, particularly one who was already a mother.

She sighed angrily and threw down her pen as she gestured him to speak.

He turned away from her and with another deep, fortifying breath he began to relay the message.

"This message has been passed on through me from Sergeant Wilkins who witnessed the incident at hand while waiting for his family's turn to take a hot air balloon ride at the carnival in town.

"While waiting for his turn, he watched the operator in charge of the air balloon ride turn away a bunch of drunk teenagers, refusing to take them up because it was dangerous for them in their condition. They walked off swearing at him and he turned to load up the balloon for the next ride. Carrie Whitman and Jess and Mitch Stephen's stayed on the ground and Agent Jordan Todd boarded the basket to ride with the children as supervisor. The ride went off without a hitch and the balloon returned to the ground to be unloaded. The operator stepped out of the balloon to secure the ropes to pegs planted in the ground when he was rushed by the drunk teens."

Patrick took another breath, sent up another prayer and pushed on. "Somehow the balloon started to rise again and one of the boys knocked it off balance. Agent Todd fell out the open gate and fell 2 and a half meters to land on Mitch Stephen's who lunged to catch her. He has a concussion and has been sent to hospital in an unconscious state. Agent Todd has a sprained ankle and a possible fractured rib but refused medical treatment in order to stay on site.

"Unfortunately no one thought to try to grab the ropes trailing off the basket until it was too late. The following from oldest to youngest are currently unsupervised in a rapidly rising and moving hot air balloon; Daniel and Sean Stephen's, Toby Whitman, Jack Hotchner, Henry LaMontagne and Ben Todd-Morgan."

For a moment no one moved or breathed. Then suddenly Derek was out the door with JJ right behind him. Aaron stopped only long enough to help Emily to her feet and then they were following and the rest of the team were right behind them.

The trip down in the lift was interminable but when they reached the parking lot, they found two vehicles already running and waiting for them.

"I took the liberty of getting the cars ready knowing you'd all be going. Someone will phone shortly to update you on what is going on with the balloon."

"Thanks for interrupting the meeting," Dave murmured as he closed the passenger side door after helping Emily get settled.

"Not a problem. I'd rather be fired than dead."

"Smart man."

New Section-

Daniel Stephen's finally got the gate latched closed and gulped as he looked down at the ground falling rapidly away from them. He kept thinking of his mother's shouted, "Remember to stay calm" as they'd risen away from the carnival and the adults trying to bring them down. It was one thing to hear his mother say it; it was going to be a completely different matter to follow this instruction as he turned his ten-year-old body to face the rest of the boys in the basket with him and assess the situation as his uncle Aaron would do.

Jack held baby Ben close and had wrapped him back up in the blanket he'd half come out of when his mother shoved him at them when she knew she was going to fall. Toby and Sean looked terrified but they'd wedged themselves in on either side of little Henry who was crying quietly and were trying to comfort the boy.

He looked around the basket and noted the radio the man had used while they were in the air was in another corner where it had obviously fallen. Looking up, he noticed the flame pushing air into the balloon was huge and continuously running and he wondered if that was a good or bad thing as he picked up the radio and tried to figure out if it was working.

New Section-

JJ shrieked just slightly as her phone went off in the tense silence blanketing the car and after hitting the answer key and putting the phone to her ear, she took the hand Dave held out and clung to it as her husband's anxious voice came over the line.

"Sugar where are you?"

"We're on our way to the carnival. Where's the balloon?"

"On the way out towards the ocean. Marines are already scrambling to get boats out under them and are keepin' pace. I'm on a boat at the jetty and we're just waitin' for all of you before we go."

"Hotch, go towards the jetty. The balloon's heading out over the ocean."

"I wondered why the car behind us changed routes all of a sudden," he muttered as he shot the car briefly into the middle of oncoming traffic before shifting them back into the right lane.

"Sugar, he'll be alright. They'll all be alright."

"What did the operator say about getting them down?"

"We don't know what he would have said. He was rushed to the hospital with his skull split open after the teenagers got through with him. Another expert has just arrived to assist in the rescue but doesn't as yet know anythin' useful."

She let out a short shriek as the car nearly tipped over when Hotch wrenched the wheel hard to avoid slamming into Derek's car as they entered the gates to the jetty at the same time. Both cars righted unscathed and the passengers were left to pull themselves back together as the two men drove with single minded intensity towards the group of people obviously waiting for them.

She rescued her phone, assured her husband she was alive and hung up. A minute later they were rushed onto the large cruiser and the boat started to power away from the jetty.

Emily took the hand of the Marine who held a life jacket out to her and allowed him to help her to a seat before he settled the jacket around her and did it up securely. The tightness in her back was increasing with every second and the ripples across her abdomen were causing her concern; but not enough to even think of abandoning Jack when he might need her.

She looked around for Aaron and spotted him with the captain of the vessel and two other men. Jordan was sobbing on Derek's shoulder, JJ was similarly situated in Will's arms and Carrie sat nearby with her hand in a death grip with Jess. Dave and Reid came to sit with her and Kelly stayed with Garcia who was rapidly typing on her laptop and appeared to be the only reason the blonde hadn't already fallen off her seat as the boat picked up speed and turned quickly out towards open water.

When Aaron descended a few minutes later, he easily had everyone's full attention.

"One of the zodiacs keeping pace with the balloon noticed the nozzle for the gas on full. The expert we have on board to assist with the rescue thinks it won't be too long before the balloon starts to descend because the gas will be used up pretty quickly. Unfortunately there is also the chance that rather than slowly run out, the gas could just suddenly shut off and a strong gust of wind might knock the basket about enough to toss it to the water roughly which means they'll hit pretty hard."

Jordan started to hyperventilate slightly as Derek bit out tightly, "Ben's only two months old. How are they expecting him to swim?"

"They aren't. The hope is that one of the boys will be able to keep hold of him as they land and get them both out of the basket and to one of the waiting zodiacs before anything major goes wrong."

There were several cries of alarm at that plan and more than a few angry shouts before a Marine rushed up with a radio.

"Sorry to interrupt, but I've got someone here who needs to talk to you." He depressed a switch on the radio and said, "Go ahead son."

"Hello?"

Jess lunged for the radio. "Daniel? Baby it's mummy. Are you alright?"

Daniel's voice trembled but it didn't sound like he was crying and he certainly didn't appear to be panicking either. "Mummy I'm okay and Sean's okay too. Henry's crying and we're all scared but we're all okay too. Mummy, we don't like it up here and we want to get down."

Aaron rubbed Jess's back as she reassured her son that he was doing a great job and watched Emily as she hissed in air and pressed a hand to her abdomen under the vest she wore. He sent up a quick prayer that it wasn't what he thought it was and moved to her side as Carrie got on the radio to talk to Toby.

"Em, honey are you alright?"

She nodded despite the pinched look on her face. "I'm fine Aaron, really. The baby's just kicking a little harder than normal."

He felt relief rush through him as he placed a hand over hers. "Are you sure that's all it is?"

She nodded. "Just get me the radio so we can talk to Jack and reassure him that we'll be here waiting for him when he comes down."

He turned to see where the radio was but rapidly turned back as Emily swore behind him.

"Shiiiit," she drew out with feeling.

He went to his knees in front of her, cradling her body with his own until her eyes opened to look at him.

"It's too early," she whispered softly.

He leaned in and kissed her forehead, wondering what else could go wrong when the radio JJ was holding crackled to life with a bunch of screams that were abruptly cut off. A moments panicked silence was interrupted by an adult voice stating clearly, "The balloon is in the water, I repeat the balloon is in the water. Teams 1, 2 and 3 moving in for rapid assist and rescue."

Coordinates came through the radio and the boat lurched forward and picked up speed.

"I hope someone has the little shitheads who started this whole disaster rolling so I can beat them to a bloody pulp for this," Derek growled as Jordan sobbed in his arms.

"Get in line," JJ muttered darkly as she clung to Will's hand and strained to see as far ahead as she could.

Emily clung to Aaron and did her best to remember to breathe through the pain crippling her thought processes and trying to tear her body apart.

"Is she alright?" Jess asked as her attention was caught by the near silent Hotchner's crouched near where she sat. Everyone turned to look at them as Aaron shook his head.

"She's in labour," he reported roughly as her arms tightened around him and her breathing sped up. "If the breathing is any indication, she's had three contractions in the last five minutes."

A round of swearing was interrupted by the same male voice from before. "Please be advised all 6 children have been rescued and are alive. Please advise of ETA for handoff?"

The Marine who had brought the radio retrieved it and moved away as everyone cheered.

Emily took a slow deep breath and felt her anxious body start to relax. Her son was alright; now she just had to make sure her daughter would be too.

Five minutes later, they caught up to the forward teams and the children were lifted into the larger boat and the waiting arms of their parents. Emily had sent Aaron off to be there when Jack came on board and he'd gone only because one of the on-board medics had arrived to shift her into one of the downstairs rooms so that he could examine her. By the time her two men arrived, the Marine looked a lot less harried than he had been when he first started to examine her after mentioning he'd never delivered a baby before.

Aaron set a blanket-wrapped, shivering boy on the bed beside her and she immediately reached out to cuddle him close. Jack had been fine until his dad had held him and then he'd started to shake uncontrollably. But the minute his mother's arms wrapped around him he burst into tears and buried his face in her shoulder.

Aaron watched this anxiously as he asked after Emily.

"I'm not an actual doctor and I obviously don't have the right equipment around me, but I'm almost completely certain that she's just suffering from Braxton Hicks contractions. She isn't in the least dilated and the baby's heart rate is strong and sure, not to mention the fact that she hasn't entered the birth canal yet. Her doctor may want to monitor her for the night but I doubt you'll be meeting your daughter anytime this week."

Aaron shook hands with the man, his relief palpable as he watched the medic gently coax Jack upright on the bed so he could take a look at him. Emily continued to hold his hand and murmur softly to him but the look she shot him was pure relief and he grinned in reply to the smile she shot him.

New Section-

Several hours later, Aaron shifted slightly in his chair and arched his back carefully, trying not to dislodge the child asleep in his arms as he watched Emily sleep in the hospital bed. The Marine medic had been correct in his assessment much to everyone's relief but her doctor had still insisted on keeping her in overnight for observation. Listening to his two ladies' heartbeats was more comforting than he could adequately put into words as his son snored ever so softly where he was draped over his father and wrapped in a blanket.

All of the boys had been given the all clear to go home except for Ben, who was being kept in hospital under close observation simply because of his age and his anxious parents requests. Carrie had taken Toby home and after being told that Mitch would be alright, Jess had been coaxed into taking Daniel and Sean home also. Will had left with a sleeping Henry and a drooping JJ and the rest of the team had disbanded to their own homes.

He looked up at a noise in the door and gestured Derek into the room. For several minutes they both just watched Emily sleep.

"How is she?"

"She's fine. They both are; this is just a precaution. How are Ben and Jordan?"

"Jordan is finally asleep in the bed provided for her beside Ben's cot and Ben appears to be fine. The story I heard is that Jack went into the water with his body curled around my son and refused to let him go until they were both in the zodiac. The Marine's have titled him the little hero and I think I was half hoping he'd be awake so I could thank him for saving Ben's life."

Aaron nodded. "So I heard but unfortunately your thanks will need to wait until morning. When I asked why he did it, he just shrugged and said if it wasn't him it would have been one of the other boys as if it didn't really matter; they simply did what needed doing in the moment."

He sighed and nodded slightly. "I'm going to return to Jordan so she doesn't worry if I'm not there when she wakes. I just wanted to make sure you were all alright."

Aaron nodded and wished him a soft goodnight as the other man left. He shuddered slightly to think how much worse the day could have ended and was glad that though the boys were slightly traumatised and clingy, they appeared no worse for wear for their impromptu flight, fall and swim.

The operator of the balloon was going to be alright eventually but was going to be in the hospital for at least a couple of weeks while he recovered from his severe head trauma. The teens were all being charged for the attack and would most likely see jail time for their actions.

Aaron made a mental note to teach his son better behaviour than those boys had shown that day and tried again to get comfortable as he settled in to his all-night vigil over his precious family, reminding himself again that in the end, all was well and tomorrow was another day to treasure what he held most important in his heart.

End-

**A/N: I wasn't entirely sure how that one was going to end but I knew what I was doing for the next piece so I thought I'd better leave it on a good note. As the next piece is half written already anyway, I'm going to see if I can get it out tonight and make it three in a day. If not, you'll definitely get it tomorrow morning.**

**Stay tuned for the next piece; V is for…**

**As always I love reviews, so please feel free to let me know what you think.**


	22. V is for Volcano

**A/N: I'm aiming for three postings in one day so I'll keep this note short and sweet.**

**Thanks again for great reviews babygurl0506 and since you like it when I post more than once a day, this third one today is dedicated to you.**

**Rated K+ for some interesting dinner conversation.**

Volcano

"This can't be happening."

Derek sighed for the third time. "Kid, you need to take a nice deep breath and calm down."

Reid shot him a glare and continued his rapid pacing. Emily moaned quietly and dropped her head, the green tinge on her face indicating her condition.

"Kid most of us are dizzy from watching you..."

"Then stop watching..."

"And you're making Emily ill with your constant movement."

Since the announcement that their private jet would not be leaving the airport on schedule due to Mount St Helen's spewing millions of tonne's of ash into the air caused Reid to realise he might miss his own wedding, he had been doing his utmost to wear an actual hole in the carpet as they waited for more information on when they might actually be allowed to return to Quantico. No amount of calming words had penetrated the young doctors' panic but the knowledge that he might be making Emily ill with his movements stopped him long enough for everyone to breathe a deep sigh of relief.

Derek, never one to miss an opportunity, grabbed Reid by the arms and shoved him down into a chair.

"Kid, I swear if you move in the next few minutes for _any_ reason I'm going to tell Hotch you made his wife look greener than a fish."

Emily muttered a hurried 'excuse me' and pushing awkwardly out of her chair, waddled quickly into the nearby bathroom. JJ stood also, slapped Derek on the back of the head and followed her colleague and friend into the bathroom.

As Derek stared stunned after the two women, Hotch returned and frowned at their smaller number.

"Emily and JJ in the bathroom?" he queried lightly.

Dave smiled dryly. "Reid's pacing was making Emily ill. Morgan got the pacing stopped but in threatening Reid to get him to stay put he mentioned fish and Emily bolted as fast as a woman with only a month and a half to go before she has a baby can bolt into the bathroom. JJ hit Morgan in retribution and followed her to make sure she was alright."

Their leader sighed tiredly and muttered about the baby being a good idea once upon a time. Kelly smothered a laugh and shared an amused look with the older agent as Dave struggled to keep his own laughter from escaping.

Five minutes later the women reappeared and JJ resumed her seat as Aaron went to check that his wife was actually alright. When they returned to the group Emily looked a lot calmer and a lot less green and both Derek and Reid breathed a sigh of relief and mumbled an apology that she gracefully accepted.

"Right then; I spoke with airport officials. Apparently we'll be here at least until the morning. Reid, I did you a favour and called Austin on your behalf. She'd already seen the news and knew we were trapped here with no way to get out today. She's not worried and is simply glad that you're alright. She added that if you can make it in time for the ceremony she'll accept you wearing whatever you have time to get into as long as you're there. Any time later than the ceremony but still on the day and she'll happily skip either the photos or the reception or both just to be married to you on her chosen day. Anything later than tomorrow and you might pushing it to marry a happy woman but I got the impression that as long as she comes out of the ceremony as Mrs Spencer Reid, she doesn't really care _when_ it is."

Everyone laughed and Aaron waited as Reid was teased good-naturedly by his friends and as his blush died down.

"As a result of our being stuck here overnight, I did try to continue our hotel booking but the rooms were already filled. I did score three very nice rooms here at the airport hotel but we'll need to pay for them ourselves as they are very definitely _not_ within the Bureau's allotted budget. I suggest you go halves or thirds with whoever you might be sharing with. Emily and I will have one room, JJ and Kelly in the second and you guys can have the third room with the three king sized singles in it.

"We'll go to the hotel and check in properly and then I'd suggest meeting for an early dinner before getting some rest so we can be back here first thing in the morning, ready to go as soon as we're given the all clear."

With everyone in agreement of the plan, they collected their go-bags and left the airport doing their best to lift Reid's spirits.

New Section-

Emily tucked into the steak in front of her with single minded glee. She'd threatened the table with certain death if _anyone_ even so much as _thought_ about ordering fish and with no fish smells surrounding her she was enjoying a settled stomach for the first time that afternoon. The realisation a month ago that fish still had the power to reduce her to puking up everything she'd had within the last 24 hour period preceding the ingestion had been a horrifying one; particularly since fish and chicken were her favourite meats. Chicken had already been off the menu as being too dicey to risk with food poisoning a threat to her daughter's life and to find that fish was a no-no also had been too unkind for words.

This steak however was really hitting the spot.

Amused looks were traded around the table as their pregnant co-worker tucked into her meal with gusto and for long minutes the only sounds at the table were those of the group enjoying their meal.

It was JJ who broke the comfortable silence. "Right Rossi, spill the beans. You've been tenser then tense over the past three days and it's driving me mad that I can't figure out why."

They all noted with interest that he went a shade redder than he was as he set down his cutlery and used his napkin to dab at his mouth. A sip of wine later and he sighed heavily.

"Maybe I should get some advice while we are all here because I certainly can't figure it out myself." JJ quickly reassured him that she'd help if she could and with another sigh he said quickly, "What does it mean if a woman I've been dating for five years suddenly ups and moves into the same city as I live in?"

Emily settled back in her seat and wondered why on earth a man who had been married three times and therefore supposedly in love those three times, even if just for a little bit, was asking that question as JJ replied slowly.

"Well, it could just be a work coincidence at its most innocent, like a promotion or some such. Or it could be that after five years of whatever kind of dating the two of you have been doing she decides to up the ante and this is how she's doing it because she feels something is lacking in the relationship. At the complete other end of the scale, she could however be a psychopath fixated on you and is now stalking you because she perceives that your attentions are lacking in some way that has sent her into a psychotic rage."

When Dave just stared at her in abject horror, JJ burst out laughing and patted his arm. "The look on your face is priceless, but seriously, I doubt it's the last option. Have you tried just asking her why she's done this?"

He nodded. "She said the promotion and opportunity came up at work and she jumped at the opportunity it presented to see me more frequently then she currently does. She assured me she wasn't complaining about any lack of attention but that us seeing each other more often could only be a good thing."

"Well there you go, it was a combination of the two most likely of my options. I wouldn't worry about it too much if I were you. You'll probably find that things won't even change all that much despite her new closeness to your location."

Seeing that Dave wasn't in the least comforted by what JJ had said, Emily asked quietly, "Are you in love with her? I'm guessing its Teresa from the pool party last year that we're talking about and I noticed then how close the two of you seemed to be."

Dave frowned and looked down at his glass of wine. JJ and Kelly exchanged wide-eyed looks as the older profiler contemplated the question put before him with a seriousness they rarely saw outside a case.

When he finally looked up at her, Emily saw the shock on his face and smiled understandingly. "It's amazing how love works. Sometimes it slams into you with all the force of a speeding bullet and remakes you in a moment. Most times though it creeps up on you so insidiously that before you even realise its happened your heart is not your own anymore to give."

"Which one was it for you?" Derek asked curiously, attempting to give his friend a few moments to get his head around his obvious new stunning personal revelation.

Emily smiled dreamily. "Shockingly it was a bullet through already building feelings. I was falling for another man and on the verge of kissing him for the first time when I was told my mother and his were looking for us by one of my mother's staff. I walked past Aaron and felt such a connection despite the dark surrounding us and the man I was with. I spent the next few days looking for him and even asked my mother about him before I saw him again. We flirted for a few minutes before he left and it was another few days after that before we met up again in the library."

"What happened there?" Kelly asked eagerly.

Emily went bright red and ducked her head and the entire table noted that though their boss was also a little red in the face, he looked entirely too satisfied.

"Spontaneous combustion," Aaron murmured when Emily didn't reply. He cleared his throat and continued, "I'd been fighting my growing feelings for days because I was waiting for Haley and in the end I simply stopped fighting. When Haley returned indicating she was ready to settle down with me, Emily bowed out gracefully and left me with a clear field." He shrugged slightly. "Even now I wonder if maybe I wasn't just a little in love with her back then and if those feelings ever actually went away while I was with Haley."

"How did you make the choice to trust again after Haley's death?" Dave asked quietly.

"It helped that Emily and I had history and my memory of her was of a woman of intense emotion, passionate responses and incredible strength of will and integrity. What also helped was seeing how she was with Jack, the son of my union with the woman who essentially broke us up. She selflessly put aside her thoughts and feelings on the mutual past we shared and provided comfort during one of the darkest moments of my life; falling in love with her is one of the easiest things I've ever done."

JJ and Kelly sighed dramatically and everyone laughed at their antics as Aaron and Emily exchanged a brief but loving kiss.

Emily turned back to Dave with a small smile. "Being married three times to three women you think you love and want to spend the rest of your life with but discover they can't live with you and don't love you enough can't be an easy thing to remember of your life.

"But I had time to chat with Teresa at the pool party and she mentioned that the two of you have been working together in your other profession for years. To me that shows that she already knows you inside and out, and perhaps even better than you know yourself. So if it turns out that she's in love with you and this move is actually an attempt to be closer to you because of those feelings, keep in mind that she already knows what she's getting herself into by choosing you. She's already seen you at your best and at your worst if you were seeing her on weekends between cases and she _still_ loves you. In our line of work, finding someone outside the job who not only understands but accepts the difficulties inherent in dealing with the stresses we face daily is a rare find I'd cling to if I were in your position."

The entire table fell silent as they all thought about how very lucky they were with their spouses.

It was Reid who broke the silence this time. "So now can you all see why I'm so anxious to get back to the woman I love?"

Laughter and a bunch of scrunched up napkins met this plaintive question as everyone turned back to their food and more light-hearted conversation.

End-

**A/N: There you have it; a little bit more about Teresa. All's well that ends well we hope; stick around to see if Dave makes the right choice regarding his woman and if Reid makes it home in time for his own wedding.**

**Stay tuned for the next piece; W is for…**

**As always I love reviews, so please feel free to let me know what you think.**


	23. W is for Wedding Nerves

**A/N: Here follows the answers to two of the all important questions: Who is the most nervous of the two, Reid or Derek, when it comes to getting married? And, Will Dave confess his newly discovered love for his long time lover?**

**So this piece will have a double wedding in it but I won't be spending as much time on the actual ceremonies and receptions as I did during Going to the Chapel for the girls. I'll just be touching on them as I did everything else through this story.**

**Thanks for awesome reviews from babygurl0506 and Hazmatt and welcome back to fanficlover; it's great to see your comments again. You keep my little, slightly insane, writers mind going round and round.**

**This piece is rated T for a few stolen moments.**

Wedding Nerves

"Is he still alive back there?"

Emily looked back at the youngest member of their team sprawled out on one of the long couches and smiled. "He's mumbling plans about who he's going to kill, how he'll do it and where he'll stash the bodies if it turns out someone deliberately made him late to his wedding."

Derek chuckled. "Sounds like he's not the least bit nervous about today."

"Not even slightly," she agreed.

"Whoa."

Derek leapt up from his seat to steady her as the plane dropped abruptly. She shot him a grateful look and let him ease her into the chair across the table from him. Everyone looked their way, noted everything was fine, and went back to their various relaxing activities. With another four hours to go before they returned to Virginia everyone had bunked down to decompress.

"So how about you Derek? Any nerves about your upcoming wedding in two weeks time?"

She watched as he thought about it seriously. His fingers tapped out a near silent tattoo on the table and the foot he had crossed across his knee wiggled anxiously. She hid a smile as he frowned slightly. Yup, definitely nervous.

"You know Derek, it isn't really that bad."

He shot her a dark look. "You're talking to the man who once swore off marriage with the intention of staying a ladies' man."

"So take Ben out of the equation and ask yourself this question; could you live without Jordan?"

The look of dawning horror on his face had her hiding another smile. "You love Jordan, despite all your seemingly best intentions to the contrary. I won't lie to you and say marriage is easy. It isn't, and there have been a couple of moments where I've wondered what the hell I was thinking about putting myself in this position. But Aaron and I talk about everything, including the bad things that make us not like each other for brief periods of time, and we know at the end of the day that nothing could be worse than us not working it out _because_ we love each and we know without a doubt life wouldn't be worth living without the other."

"I know it isn't all roses and hearts but my fears keep getting the better of me."

"Give me an example to work with."

"Jordan has travelled and worked with us in the past so she knows what I have to deal with and we've discussed in depth what she does with the Terrorism Task Force. I'm scared that one day one of us is going to start making demands of the other about not being put at risk by the job and that it'll end up breaking us."

Emily sighed quietly. "What I'm about to say stays between the two of us. You say nothing to anyone else about this. I _might_ tell Aaron I told you this but I also might not so I need your word of honour that nothing will pry this out of you once I say it."

He nodded with wide eyes and holding up a hand swore he'd not repeat anything he was about to hear.

"The case in New York, with the paedophile ring a couple of months back where Aaron and I had to go undercover to break it up and I collapsed at the airport when we returned? He gave me 24 hours to recover physically and then he said he'd decided that it was time I stepped back and started maternity leave, that it was obvious to him that I wasn't coping with the workload. What he hadn't taken into account was how fragile I was still feeling emotionally and how much I'd been looking forward to just cuddling up to him and watching one of Jack's favourite movies simply because it was filled with goodness and it was light and fluffy. Instead I was _told_ what I was going to do like I couldn't make my own decisions.

"Something in me snapped and I demanded to know of him in that moment if I was his wife or if I was his subordinate. He asked what that mattered so I asked him again. When he hedged around the question a second time I pretty much screamed the question at him. This brought the boys and Carrie at the run. Pushed past all real understanding of my surroundings, I screamed at them to get out, in that moment not really caring that Jack started to cry and shake because I'd scared him completely for the second time in a day.

"Once we were alone again I went on the attack. I pointed out that I hadn't once shirked my duties on this case and that even exhausted and repulsed by what I had to do I'd pushed through and done what was needed to save those precious little girls' lives. I pointed out that yes I'd collapsed in the end, but I hadn't been the only one having heard that JJ too had fainted once she knew she was safe again.

"So I was either his wife, whom he was misguidedly trying to protect but who was perfectly capable of making her own decisions based on what she knew about her own body. Or I was his subordinate, this was an order from the boss and I was entitled to another opinion by someone better qualified to decide what my body needed.

"He just stood there mute. I'd shocked him so completely with some incredibly foul language I'd _never_ used before and having never seen or heard me break down so completely before he didn't quite know how to handle it. All I could see though, was that he still wasn't answering my question and I'd had enough. So I walked out. I didn't have any shoes on and I didn't have a jacket. I didn't grab car keys so he simply thought I'd stepped out onto the veranda to sit on the swing seat there and calm down. By the time he realised I wasn't anywhere in the house or on the grounds, Jack was in a panic because mummy had screamed at him and he was in a panic because I was pregnant and barefoot and out walking in one of the worst downpours of the season."

Derek stared at her stunned. "No one had any clue that anything was wrong between you. How'd you hide that much emotion?"

Emily shrugged and shivered slightly in the cooler air of the plane. A jacket suddenly dropped down over her shoulders and Aaron nudged her over on the seat.

"You don't hide that much emotion Derek, not if you want your marriage to survive and grow stronger from the disagreement."

Derek looked from one to the other of them and Aaron smiled slightly.

"I overheard your early conversation. We got lucky that we were given that following week off of work to deal with the residual emotions of what we'd dealt with. That gave us a week to work through what was in front of us.

"I'd picked up the phone to call the police and report Emily missing when it rang. Jess was on the other end of the line demanding to know what the hell I'd been thinking when I decided to so completely distress my wife. She'd turned up at their place 6 miles away sobbing incoherently, soaked to the bone and nearly hypothermic. They were giving her an hour to get warmed up before they took her to the hospital and the only reason they hadn't already was because Jess could clearly feel the baby still kicking strongly.

"So I left my still-hysterical son to go and deal with my still-hysterical wife and a furious sister-in-law. By the time I arrived at Jess's, Emily was nearly catatonic, not responding to anyone or anything. I let Jess yell at me for a good hour before I quietly asked her to save the rest of her repetitive lecture for later so that I could apologise for being a complete ass to my wife. She stalked off with the threat that if I hurt Emily further she'd been hanging around me long enough to know how to do away with me and get away with it.

"For almost another 24 hours I just sat beside her and waited for her to say or do something that would acknowledge that I was there. I knew she was breathing because I watched her chest rise and fall and I knew her heart was beating because I frequently took her pulse. The baby continued to kick because I would frequently touch her abdomen, but it was like the essence that made Emily the woman I fell in love with wasn't there. I was close to just picking her up and taking her to the hospital anyway when she spoke for the first time in over a day."

Derek looked from one to the other and demanded, "Well what did she say man?"

"I asked him if he thought so little of me that I'd do anything to put my unborn child's life at risk."

"The question itself wouldn't have scared me that much but the realisation that Emily had just referred to the child as hers and not ours for the first time scared me more than anything else she'd done so far. Like I'd destroyed _us_ without even trying.

"I watched as she turned her head slowly to look at me, a single tear shredding my heart to pieces as it slid down her face. She'd spent 24 hours in her own private hell, where she'd been left in _that_ place by _me_ because I felt so little about her decisions that I stepped in and took over rather than talking to her."

"It took another three hours for us to untangle what had gone so horribly wrong. I might have stayed at Jess's another day for a bit more distance from the situation but the knowledge that I needed to sit with Jack and sort out what I'd caused with my actions got me home. Except for Jack that week, I refused all physical contact of any kind and slept in the spare room. I barely spoke to anyone and I did only the most minimum to keep myself going.

"By the following Saturday I was ill, heartsick and exhausted. I'd been in the bathroom for what seemed like an eternity from one in the morning until about five and then I decided I'd had enough of my own self-imposed hell. I walked down to the master bedroom and I climbed into bed and as Aaron automatically turned in his sleep to cuddle me in closer because he couldn't not, I just started to cry and that was it. By the time I stopped I felt better and though I'm still a little fragile about some things, we have an understanding between us now of how we'll deal with similar situations in the future that will ensure we don't come quite so close to breaking."

Derek shook his head slowly. "So marriage _definitely_ isn't all roses and hearts but it is doable if you talk about it."

"Realise that you'll need to find an excellent dentist because there are some things you'll just have to grit your teeth over as you hold your tongue and that compromise is an excellent thing for you both to learn."

Emily nudged Aaron with a slight smile. "Feel free to come to either of us if you need a sounding board. The same offer will be extended to Jordan too. But for the record, while the best thing you can do is talk about it instead of internalising it and letting it eat you alive, the worst thing you can do is talk about it while the emotions are still riding you. I was on the edge of letting everything we had built between us crumble to nothing because of something Aaron said in the heat of the moment. So learn from our mistakes and find another way."

"Hold on to the things you love most and don't go looking for the bad moments. They'll find you whether you want them to or not and it's how you deal with them when they come that will tell you how much you want your relationship to work. Love life and family while you can and the rest in the end will simply make you stronger."

New Section-

Austin looked up as the church doors opened. She'd received the call not forty minutes ago that the jet had landed and they were going to be arriving straight from airport as soon as traffic would allow. She looked at the clock and smiled. Only half an hour late, so she wouldn't tease him _that_ badly for his tardiness.

She smoothed a hand down the white silk covering her body as the BAU moved into their assigned seats at the front of the church, couples briefly reacquainting with family before turning expectantly to the back and where Reid stood rooted to the spot. He was dressed in brown loafers, brown slacks and a cream coloured shirt with a brown vest and jacket over the top. His hair was definitely mussed up and his clothing could _definitely_ not be called wedding attire, but he'd never looked more handsome in her eyes.

She gestured to him to come down the aisle but he didn't move and when almost a minute had passed and people began to murmur about wedding jitters and Dr Reid's notorious bad manners where women were concerned, she left her spot at the end of the aisle and walked to the start of it and the man she knew best of all was one of sweetest to be found anywhere.

When she got close enough to him to see his mouth moving she strained to hear him whispering over and over, "Wow, how'd I get so lucky. So beautiful and she wants me. _Me_ of all people. Maybe I should save her from herself now."

She lifted a slightly shaking hand and cupped his cheek gently. It took another few minutes for the litany to stop and for his eyes to actually focus on her. When they did actually see her she smiled at him.

"Not on your life are you getting out of this wedding. I _will_ be Mrs Dr Spencer Reid by the end of today and you thinking you can save me by leaving me because you think you're unworthy is just not on. I'm a grown woman with my own likes and dislikes and you, my love, are everything I like in a man. I don't care what other people think of you, though I might have to have words with a few of them before I dent some heads, but as long as you are my own in the end, that's what counts. Now, I can call the minister to come and marry us here or you can escort me up the aisle and we can get married where we are supposed to be. Your choice."

New Section-

"You seem a lot calmer than you did before you left on that last case," Jordan observed as Derek moved them smoothly around the floor. Emily sat on the edge of the floor with Carrie, cradling Ben as the two women discussed who knew what.

Derek pulled her closer and rested his chin on her head as he snugged her in tight to his body. The act caused a response for both of them and seconds later when she tipped her head back she wasn't in the least surprised when his mouth met hers for a fiery few minutes. When he pulled back and tugged her out of the room with him and into a small side room that was currently unoccupied she went eagerly, spinning into his arms as her hands slid under his shirt. They may not have been dressed appropriately for the wedding but they'd dressed up for the reception and Derek in a suit was always a sight to steal any feminine hearts.

Thankfully he seemed to think hers was enough for him.

His hands slid up under her dress and hooked in her panties as her fingers made short work of his belt and fly. He muttered an obscenity when he realised he still had to put a condom on and then he was in her and her world tilted at the same time it all became so right and clear around her. Completion when it came was as explosive as always but there was just a little something more there that she didn't quite understand that somehow heightened the experience.

He sat on a bench at the side of the room with her still straddling him. She was alarmed to note how his hands shook as he lifted her hair away from her face and cupped her cheeks.

"Emily asked me to take Ben out of the equation and then queried whether I could live without you. I swear, in that moment for a split second, I was terrified that something bad had happened to you and I'd never see you again. And I realised that I hadn't clearly told you how very much I love you. Not because you are the mother of my son but just because I _love_ everything about you. I love the way you are when we are together like this, so incredibly passionate and responsive and so completely there in the moment I'm never left wondering if what I'm doing is right for that second. I love your body and how you look at _every_ given moment of the day. From waking up sleepy and tussled and not together in the morning to the look you pull up for your working day, to the more recent frazzled new mother look which, by the way, is a total turn-on for me.

"Then there is everything else. The sweet, compassionate side of you and the tough-as-nails terrorist fighter side of you. The fun-loving, adventurous woman who gets me into trouble on a too-frequent basis appeals to the child-like side of me I didn't really get a chance to live and the total acceptance of the man I am and the past I've lived through and the knowledge that you just plain love me anyway. And the side you don't let the world see but that you seem to trust me enough with. Your insecurities over being a mother and not being sure if you're doing a good enough job and your pain over working with men who still don't see you as being as good as them despite the amount of years you've worked together as a unit and the amount of times you've proven you're even _better_ than them all put together.

"It's little things and big things, things I can't define and others I stumble over to get out because I can't not verbalise them but in the end what I'm trying to say is I love you, Jordan Todd and I _always will_."

She was crying outright by the time he was done talking but inside her heart was singing a joyous song over finally hearing what she'd so longed to hear from him for so many years. He kissed her again and again, whispering about how it hurt him to see her cry and he was sorry for doing it but it had to be said. She in turn reassured him that they were happy tears and their bodies moved to affirm physically what had just been cleared up between them.

New Section-

Dave looked at the door in front of him and at his watch again and cringed. The celebrations for the young doctors' wedding reception had gone on for hours, simply because the happy couple kept disappearing at the oddest moments only to return looking like they'd definitely got their honeymoon started early. It was almost one in the morning; far too late to be here, yet he'd been standing rooted to the same spot for fifteen minutes and he knew if he moved from here, he wouldn't be back; not like this anyway.

A hand reached past him and pressed the buzzer and he turned his head to see Aaron standing there.

"I dropped Emily at home and would have gone to bed myself but she insisted her maternal instincts were screaming that you needed a push to get you over the last hurdle and could I come past to make sure you were at least in through the door. And to think I nearly laughed her off."

He sighed and shoved his hands in his pockets as he turned away from the door. "I have almost nothing left to give her Hotch. My past has taken almost everything I have to give not just physically but emotionally as well. So who am I ask her to accept me as her one and only?"

"You could just ask her to tell you why she loves you and when she tells you, instead of arguing about it you could just accept that she's a smart woman who knows her own mind."

He turned back to argue the point and found it was too late for that. Teresa nodded her head in thanks and Aaron walked down the steps and slapped him on the shoulder in passing as he whistled his way to the car and drove off. For his part, he couldn't move or breathe as he took in Teresa sleep-tussled and dressed in green silk standing on the step.

She smiled gently. "You know, even with Summer right around the corner, it's still a little cool out here at night. Why don't you come inside while I tell you everything about you that I love and I find out why I have a visitor at one in the morning."

He followed her into the building and up the stairs to her second floor penthouse. She could have taken the lift, but that was Teresa; she never took the easy way if the harder one could help keep her in shape. And what a shape it was. He wondered if he could convince her to postpone the talk a few hours in favour of unwrapping that shapely body and burying himself deep in her welcoming folds. She stopped to fit the key in the door and he moved in.

He lifted a chunk of her hair and took a deep breath of it as she stilled in front of him. When she would have turned to kiss him, he stopped her by wrapping his arms around her waist and kissing her neck. Though kiss was too light a description he thought as he lifted his head and thrilled at the knowledge that he'd marked her as his in that moment. She moaned and thrust back into him, grinding her hips against his groin in such a way he thought he might just explode if he didn't get what he wanted immediately.

"Get us inside before I take you where we stand," he growled as he strung a row of nips and kisses down the column of her neck. His hands slid up the front of her body and cupped her breasts and she thrust back again as she got the door open and they stumbled through it. She turned into him and they kissed as they divested clothing and walked through the apartment to her room. By the time they tumbled to the bed, they were already joined in the ride of their lives.

As they held on the edge of the precipice with joyous freefall all that was in front of them, he moved her hair out of her glazed eyes and saw so much love there that he suddenly couldn't keep silent. As he sent them careening over the edge with a last shift of his hips, he poured out his soul into three little words he knew without doubt wouldn't see him destroyed this time around because it was this woman he'd waited his whole life for.

"I love you."

New Section-

"Don't you just love weddings?" Penelope asked with a happy sigh of the women she shared a table with.

Reid and Austin had come back after two weeks away and she'd just had to chase down boy wonder to see how the honeymoon had been. That he'd blushed and stammered that it had been very nice had gotten her spider senses tingling and she'd just had to tease him throughout the day because it was too cute for words. Of course, Austin as a wife was a force to be reckoned with and had put a stop to it the moment she'd realised it was happening, but she'd had a fun few hours first.

Now they watched Jordan and Derek Morgan have their first dance together. She currently shared a table with Emily and baby Ben, Austin, Kelly, JJ and Teresa. The men were somewhere about but for the moment it was just the girls and the romance of the moment.

She turned away from the dance going on in the middle of the floor and pinned Teresa with a look. "So, you seek to join the folds as a BAU woman. What makes you worthy?"

Teresa looked surprised for a moment and then pleased by the question as she answered, "I love David Rossi with everything I am _because_ of who he is."

"I'd give that answer an 11 on the scale," Emily murmured at her side. The other women were nodding agreement of this and Penelope let the distrustful look go and beamed a smile at the older woman.

"Brilliant answer my sweet. Welcome to the club."

"Be warned before you agree to anything to get the lowdown on it first," JJ said. "Otherwise you may end up doing something you really don't want to be doing because once you start it you'll find it's easier to halt an avalanche."

Penelope was sputtering indignantly and the table as a whole was laughing at her dramatics when the men came to claim their women and move them to the floor. Jordan retrieved Ben from Emily and was swept back into Derek's arms for their first dance as a family. Emily moved happily into Aaron's arms and thought she couldn't wait to do the same with their little girl once she was finally there. Penelope and Kelly danced with their husbands and dreamed of babies, JJ and Will quietly discussed the joys of their wedding day, Reid and Austin gave thought to where they could quietly sneak off to in this building to steal a few moments together and Teresa silently plotted how to get David Rossi from 'I love you' to 'I do'.

End-

**A/N: And there we have it, all our happy little profilers with significant others except Rossi. Sigh. Oh well, after three broken marriages, I'd be a bit reluctant to trust with my heart again too. But I know that Teresa is perfect for him and if she hasn't given up after 12 long years (gulp), I doubt she's going to give up on waiting for him; at least, not now that she's got him where she wants him.**

**Stay tuned for the next piece; X is for…**

**As always I love reviews, so please feel free to let me know what you think.**


	24. X is for Xevoz

**A/N: I have been wracking my brain and wracking my brain since I started this crazy alphabet journey knowing that I would have a world of trouble with X. I didn't want to be obvious with my choice by choosing x-ray or xylophone but I also didn't want to cheat and do something like eXaggerate a word just to get an X in there, so this is what I've come up with. It will be short and sweet but includes fluffy family moments within the Hotchner family.**

**Thanks to moonshine-037 and babygurl0506 who so quickly and beautifully reviewed W and other chapters and to Hazmatt and fanficlover for continuous encouraging reviews.**

**This piece is rated K+ for a little family bonding. **

Xevoz

"You look troubled by something kitten. What's on your mind?"

Emily shifted her arms out of the way as Aaron's arms slid around her middle to cradle her bust. She settled back into his body with a relieved sigh. With only five weeks to go before her daughter was due to make her entrance to the world and another week to go before she was officially off work, she'd discovered rapidly that being pregnant sapped all of her energy and left her feeling more uncomfortable and out of sorts than she'd even been in her entire life. The predicted issues with her pelvic region hadn't been as big as the doctor had originally thought, but the occasional pain there was crippling and exhausting and she was still booked in for a caesarean in exactly five weeks. And it all couldn't come soon enough.

He kissed her cheek as she replied, "I had an interesting conversation with Jack today."

"By the tone of your voice I'm guessing it wasn't a happy conversation."

"He's just feeling left out of everything because our daughter and I got lots of presents at the baby shower last weekend and he got nothing. I also got the impression that we might not be giving him enough attention lately."

"Not good if he's thinking that. Any suggestions?"

"I don't know if you've noticed or if he's only been talking to me about it, but he's totally enchanted with Xevoz. I thought we might choose an amount and let him loose in the toy store and then spend an afternoon helping him play with them."

"Hmm, I hadn't noticed but I could go for that. When does he get back with Carrie?"

"They're due back in an hour. But I've got a doctor's appointment and he is due with you at the dentist almost as soon as he returns which is why we are both home in the middle of the working day. Tomorrow's Saturday though. Carrie was going to take both the boys to the zoo for the day so that I could get some rest but perhaps if she just takes Toby we could have the house for the three of us and a little family bonding."

"I love the way your mind works."

She snorted. "Don't love it at the moment. The end of next week can't come soon enough and I can't wait for this child of ours to be born so I can hopefully get rid of this baby brain. It's driving me nuts that I have to write everything down several times before it all makes sense in my head. Just do me a favour and give me something easy to help out with next week."

"You could.."

"Don't even suggest my staying home next week and starting my leave early because it's not happening."

Aaron's voice was meek when he replied with, "Wasn't going to suggest it love. Just thought I'd give you station duty wherever we might end up."

"As long as I have an assistant to give me a semblance of looking good and getting the work done correctly I have no trouble with that idea."

"Good."

He turned her in his arms and settled his hands at the tight skin at the small of her back. "I thought, if we've got an hour now before everyone descends on us that we could go to bed and snuggle for a bit."

She looked at him suspiciously. "Last time you said snuggle, there was a lot more canoodling than snuggling going on in that bed. Wait, did I just say canoodling? Damn but I want this kid out of me and my brain back where it belongs."

He laughed so hard he nearly tipped them both over as he coaxed her to the bed for an hour of snuggling and canoodling, as his wife put it.

New Section-

Jack Hotchner looked from one parent to the other and tried hard not to pout. Learning that Toby was going to the zoo and he was not had not been a happy moment that morning and even having his parents undivided attentions was doing little to appease his unhappiness. He finished his pancakes and pushed the plate away. He crossed his arms in front of him and tried again to be happy with this turn of events.

Emily shot Jack another look and nudged Aaron. Their son was finished with breakfast and looking incredibly unhappy and she remembered early on seeing how hard it was as the boy tried not to cry about being left behind on an outing to one of his favourite places.

"Jack, your mum's been telling me about your recent interest in Xevoz and we were wondering how you'd feel about spending a day introducing them to us."

Jack sighed heavily and looked up with sad eyes at his parents looking so happily at him. They were trying to spend time with him but it wasn't working.

"That would be good daddy but I don't have any Xevoz to introduce you and mummy to."

"What if we said you could change that and get as many as you like for a hundred dollars?" Emily asked curiously.

Jack frowned slightly. They'd been doing maths in school and were learning about money and though he didn't much understand it all yet, he kind of thought that maybe he could get a few toys for a hundred dollars.

"Do you mean that?"

Aaron grinned as he thought, _hook_. "Absolutely. As soon as we have finished breakfast we are going to the toy store so that we can buy as many as you like for the amount mentioned. Then while Toby is still at the zoo with Carrie, the three of us will spend time together and play with them."

"Really? Just the three of us? No one else?"

_Line._ "Just the three of us. Mummy might need a short nap after the shopping trip but then it is just us and the toys."

_Sinker. _Jack bounced up shrieking for joy to strangle his parents with hugs and kisses and breakfast ended with a bright 7 year old boy urging his parents to hurry so they could get to the toy store before all the toys disappeared.

New Section-

Carrie looked around the upstairs play area and perhaps thought a bomb had hit it as she hid a smile. She'd known that morning that the Hotchner's were going to do their best to alleviate some building tension she could feel in Jack but she hadn't known it would come in quite this way.

Emily was on the couch situated along the balustrade and sound asleep with one of Jack's favourite blankets and Mikey the monkey. Toys were strewn all over the floor around Jack and Aaron and it half looked like the two men were in the middle of a war with their characters. She'd never seen the BAU's unit chief looking quite so relaxed and yet so frazzled at the same time. It looked seriously like the youngest Hotchner was getting the better of his parent in this particular battle of wits.

Toby moved forward with appropriate, and unfortunately real, noises of envy to admire Jack's new arsenal of toys. Jack though had clearly been taught well about sharing and having obviously gotten what he needed from his parents was more than happy to allow Toby into the game and even to start a whole new one as Aaron walked up to her.

"Jack generously used his money to buy a couple of Xevoz's for Toby. He didn't want your son to feel completely left out of all the attention."

Carrie smiled tenderly as she relaxed and watched the two boys play. "Jack is an absolute sweetheart who has been so incredibly lucky in how he was raised it's almost unbelievable for all that he's been through. Thanks for including Toby in all this chaos."

He grinned engagingly and pushed his hand through his already-rumpled hair. "Don't thank me yet. Chances are good we'll be pulled into this game ourselves if we hang around long enough."

Sure enough, the boys were already calling for them to join the game, which they did until hunger dictated that dinner needed to be the order of the hour and the adults moved to prepare it as a much happier Jack Hotchner continued playing knowing things wouldn't change _too _much in his world.

_And maybe a baby sister won't be so bad after all._

End-

**A/N: Done and dusted. Whoo! X is gone and we have but two letters to go. What a rush. Let's see how I go getting them finished today. I'm loving this time off I've got. **

**Stay tuned for the next piece; Y is for…**

**As always I love reviews, so please feel free to let me know what you think.**


	25. Y is for Yellow Butterflies

**A/N: With summer recently ended in my world and just started in theirs, I thought the idea of the summer picnic was a good one and as it turned out, so did my BAU characters. And though they don't know it yet, this Sunday will be one of the last easy ones for quite some time for our intrepid heroes. So stay tuned for a couple of super sweet moments among the gathered team on this lazy Sunday afternoon.**

**Thanks for great reviews to babygurl0506 and Hazmatt. Sorry for the confusion caused by X. Xevoz are a range of interchangeable toy figures put out by Hasbro. If you look it up on Wikipedia that's where I got my information from.**

**This piece is rated K in parts and T in others so be warned.**

Yellow Butterflies

"Can I make like a child and whine, 'Are we there yet?'" Emily asked as she stumbled on a rock and was steadied by Aaron on her left and Carrie on her right. The rest of the team and their significant others was in front of them and they stopped as one and turned to look at her as she flushed slightly in embarrassment; she definitely hadn't meant to say that out loud.

Will looked instantly contrite. "I'm so sorry Emily. I completely forgot this place might not be the easiest for you to get to but I can assure you that we are not only almost there, but it will be completely worth it in the end. Trust me."

"It's okay Will. I just had a very busy day yesterday and a bad night in the bathroom to top it all off." She shot a glare down at her covered abdomen and muttered, "Who knew having a baby was going to be this much trouble."

Everyone chuckled softly as Jack moved back to give her a hug. She accepted it with a warm thanks and then watched amazed as Jack placed his hands on her belly where the baby was kicking most and said, "Now listen, we already had this conversation about how you need to be a good girl so mummy isn't so tired and unwell all the time. Today is a special, fun day, so _please_ be good for her. Okay?"

Adults hid smiles as Emily gently stroked his hair back from his eyes. "When did the two of you have this conversation baby?"

"Yesterday, when daddy and Carrie were getting dinner on and Toby was off putting his new toys away and you were still sleeping. Was it a bad thing to do?" he asked, suddenly looking anxious. "I mean daddy does it all the time but maybe it's a grownup thing to do?"

Emily crouched down with difficulty and hugged Jack to her. "No baby, it's not a bad thing at all and I really, really appreciate you trying to take such good care of me. You're doing a great job."

He hugged her back tightly and then pulled back. "Why are you crying?"

She wiped away her tears and smiled at him. "Because you're just too sweet for words to describe."

He gave her an odd look that said plainly that grownup's could be weird sometimes and then he walked off to find Toby and Henry to no-doubt discuss this weirdness as she was helped to stand again. Aaron wrapped her up in a comforting hug for a minute and then they walked on. A couple of minutes later they rounded a bend in the track through the trees and everyone stopped with exclamations of surprise.

A meadow filled with yellow flowers and green, green grass spread out before them before trees once again claimed the landscape. A happily babbling brook cut across the far right corner of the meadow and pooled at the base of a small cliff complete with waterfall and the whole vista was backed by mountains that were still just slightly snow capped.

"Oh yeah, that was worth the walk," Emily breathed in awe as she took in the view.

"Garcia, get out your camera please," Will said as he crouched down in front of Henry. "Do you remember what we discussed son?"

Henry nodded seriously. "I can run anywhere in the meadow as far as the trees and back but nowhere outside of your sight."

"Perfect. Go running."

Henry squealed with childish joy and took off running. Cries of utter delight followed as a sea of yellow butterflies launched into the air ahead of him.

JJ looked at her husband with wide eyes. "You said I'd love this place; you weren't kidding and I do." She kissed him deeply and took off after her son with a whoop of delight, Toby and Jack right behind her.

Garcia's camera went mad as the blonde tech kitten snapped shot after shot of the three children and the media liaison spinning circles surrounded by butterflies.

"Much as watching this is delightful, I really need to sit down now," Emily murmured. As a group, the adults continued forward to find the perfect spot for the picnic they had planned.

New Section-

JJ followed Will down the track and smiled at the view in front of her. The day was gorgeous and their surroundings perfect for relaxation and fun but there was, without a doubt, no view better on earth than the sight of Will LaMontagne's ass encased in denim.

They rounded a bend and entered a small glade dappled with the sunlight filtering through the tall old trees surrounding it. The ground looked soft and inviting and before she knew it she was sitting cross legged on it facing Will.

"Are you sure Henry will be alright without us?"

Will grinned at her. "Carrie admitted earlier in the day that as the odd woman out, she was simply happy to play nanny to all children present today. I mentioned it to Derek and he agreed that it might be a good idea to give Carrie just a little extra today in thanks for any child-minding she does. We decided to discuss it with you and Jordan and decide at the end of the day."

"Mmm, I definitely like the idea, but I hope she didn't think she was along just to look after the children, that she was welcome in her own right?"

"She knew; she was just more than happy to offer additional help to allow us to have a few stolen moments and has indicated that she'd be happy to offer a babysitting service in the future as long as she isn't already needed by the boss."

"That's one to definitely keep in mind. Right, so ah, what are we doing here?"

He grinned. "Get as comfortable as you can and prepare to be perfectly still for anywhere up to half an hour. Don't look so doubtful; I promise it will all be worth it in the end."

She sighed softly and settled in. "Do I keep my eyes open?"

"If you like but keep in mind that if you close them you may miss the entire reason we're here in this spot."

"And that reason is...?"

He tsked good-naturedly and settled into stillness with another engaging grin and she fell silent with a reluctant, answering smile.

For several long minutes, nothing happened. The distant sounds of the children shrieking with laughter came to her, as did the shouts put out by a bunch of men playing a physical game of one sort or another and the softer laughter of the women. Just as she was wondering what she was missing, a flicker of movement at the corner of her eye started her turning her head.

"Don't move," Will murmured with the barest breath of sound.

She went still and waited and then a moment later that flicker came again. As she waited, almost vibrating with impatience, a huge yellow butterfly appeared in her vision and came to rest on the ground in front of them. She watched it hungrily with her eyes and almost missed the arrival of several other butterflies another minute later. Another five minutes after that, she had butterflies landing on her and as she flicked a delighted look at Will, she noticed he was similarly covered.

She mouthed a silent thank you as she continued to soak in this once in a lifetime opportunity that had almost literally landed in her lap.

New Section-

"So do we know where JJ and Will got off to?" Kelly asked as she watched her hottie of a husband dive for the football flying in his direction.

Carrie looked up from where she cuddled Ben and shrugged just slightly. "Will said something about a special surprise for his wife and could I keep an eye on Henry. I said of course I could and he grinned and took off with JJ in tow. They disappeared down a path in the tree line over there. He didn't know how long they'd be."

"I'm of a mind to go and rescue Spencer and see if we can find a little spot of our own in order to create some magic."

"Do you ever think of anything but sex with boy wonder?"

Austin smiled dreamily. "At the moment? Not really."

They laughed in amusement and Jordan nodded agreement. "I have to admit as a newlywed I have a one-track mind where Derek is concerned. Of course, I think I've always had a one-track mind where Derek is concerned." She watched as Derek high-fived with the child riding on his shoulders and Henry almost covered his eyes as they took off running again. She sighed contentedly. "I can't wait until Ben is old enough for all of this. Derek's such a great father now; I can already see how he's going to be when his son is old enough to learn how to play footy and ride a bike and restore houses and such."

The girls smiled and teased her a bit for being sappy as Austin got to her feet and stretched.

"I have decided I'm going to put Spencer out of his misery." She whistled sharply and the game stopped. She walked into the middle of the guys, hooked a hand around her husbands' neck and kissed him as she wrapped a leg around his and pressed up into him. She pulled back and smiled with a slick of her tongue across her lips. "Come play with me instead." She backed up slowly with a twitch of her hips and then turned and walked off towards another one of the paths leading into the trees. She heard Reid stammer his excuses to the guys and heard the guys reply with teasing and laughter.

A few minutes later she stepped out into a mini field covered with flowers, startling a few birds and a lot of butterflies into the air. As Spencer's arms wrapped around her waist and his lips trailed heaven down her neck to her bare shoulder she took in the beauty of her surroundings and decided this was perfect.

She tapped his arm firmly and said, "Is there anything here that is going to cause itching in any places we really don't want itching to occur if we completely seduce each other and end up naked and sweaty?"

His arms tightened around her and he pressed firmly up against the back of her body as his chin came to rest on the top of her head. She felt his head move slowly from one side of the area to the other and then he turned her in his arms and kissed her with enough heat to have her melting into him.

"Not a single thing to worry about. This, I believe, means you are wearing far too many pieces of clothing my lovely."

"Hmm, well I could easily say the same thing of you Dr Hotstuff."

He grinned and stepped back and because they'd done it before they raced to see who could get out of their clothing first. He won only because the clasp on her bra refused to release and he had to get behind her to ease it out before she broke it. When she would have turned to face him again, he cupped her breasts from behind and squeezed lightly.

"Do you know, I've always wondered how animals manage to mate so successfully from behind. Shall we find out how they do it?"

She purred and thrust her hips back into his groin with a roll that caused him to thrust back.

"Let's."

New Section-

Jordan sat on the small ledge under the waterfall and watched the antics going on around her. The kids swam like fish, swimming rings around their parents. Derek was sitting at the water's edge with Ben, the baby held securely at his father's side as he kicked his chubby little legs with gleeful squeals in a mere inch of water. Emily sat on the bank watching everything going on with Garcia, who had mournfully announced to the women that she wasn't going swimming that day and would keep the little mama-to-be company. JJ and Will could be seen slowly walking towards the group and stopping frequently to exchange kisses and Reid and Austin were still nowhere to be seen and were presumably still off doing...whatever it was they were doing.

She started slightly as Derek suddenly appeared in front of her, lifted her just slightly clear of the ledge and tumbled her into the water. She came up sputtering to see him grinning cheekily at her. She looked about for Ben and smiled to see auntie Garcia had the baby in her happy clutches.

She looked at her husband and swam closer. Tangling her legs with his, she kissed him deeply as they slowly sank beneath the water. His hands trailed over her skin, creating fire despite the cool of the water and as they thrust to the surface for air, she took the barest breath needed and kissed him again as her fingers touched back.

This went on for several long minutes before an amused voice drawled, "Much as this is delightful, may I remind you that there are impressionable young children swimming about?"

They turned to see David with Toby and Henry on one side and Jack on the other. Jordan ducked her head with a murmured apology as she blushed and Derek inclined his head in understanding as Dave encouraged the children to swim off with him as they peppered him with numerous questions about kissing and babies.

"Well that was embarrassing," she muttered.

"But fun," Derek added with such amusement in his tone that she lifted her head and smiled back.

"Shall we go find a spot of our own to have some fun in?"

"I can't, remember?"

Derek sighed, then brightened. "Just because we can't go all the way doesn't mean we can't fool around if we can slip our audience."

She looked in the direction his head nodded and laughed. The kids stood on the bank nearby, plainly trying to peer through the waterfall at them to see if they were continuing with the 'baby-making kisses' as they put it.

She looked back and nodded eagerly. "Let's."

New Section-

Garcia sighed dispiritedly before blowing a raspberry on Ben's cheek to the child's utter delight.

"Do you know how much it sucks to not be able to use tampons like every other normal woman I know?"

Emily hid a grin and salivated over the muscles in her husbands' back and arms and abs and legs and...well hell, she just salivated. She sighed too.

"Do you know how much it sucks to have a husband that good looking while I am 35 weeks pregnant, feeling like a whale and unable to have hot and sweaty sex?"

"Surely there are ways around your belly that still allow you to..."

She smiled just slightly. "Around the belly? Oh yes, he is more than proficient at that. But the issue comes in that making love is just far too uncomfortable now for me so we just don't do it anymore. And then there is the fact that we have had to take it mostly easy with it when we did do it after I miscarried because we didn't want to lose our other daughter. So I'm sitting here and he's there and he's gorgeous and I'm horny."

The two women looked at each other with growing amusement and then nearly fell into each other they were laughing so hard.

A chorus of howls suddenly rent the air and after several long silent moments, Teresa asked hesitantly, "Did that sound like Reid and Austin to anyone else?"

No one answered as they continued to look in the direction the noise had come from. Emily and Garcia exchanged wide-eyed looks and then shuddered slightly as their minds went where they would be quite happy to never go again.

Looking back at the people in the pool, she started to giggle and then to laugh helplessly. Garcia joined her and suddenly they were all laughing uproariously. She was still laughing when she caught sight of Jack struggling to keep his head above the water at the back of the group, for the moment unnoticed by his friend's because Henry had gone to join his parents to tell them about a discovery he'd made and Toby was swimming with his mother.

Her panic was near instantaneous and she knew the last time she'd gotten to her feet that fast was before her elopement to her husband.

As Jack disappeared below the surface, she screamed and pointed, "Someone get Jack!"

Everyone spun as a group and it was Kevin who turned out to be the closest to the boy and immediately went under to get him back up. By the time Kevin came up with Jack, Aaron was reaching for his sobbing son and Emily was struggling to get enough air as panic had tripped her heart into racing.

JJ and Will eased her back down to the ground and JJ rubbed her back in soothing circles as she encouraged her to breathe. By the time they had the whole chain of events sorted out, she was able to breathe properly and Austin and Reid had returned horrified to realise what might have happened while they were gone.

Jack had gotten a serious cramp in his calf, one that had caused his whole leg to curl up and had so surprised him by the suddenness of it that he'd swallowed water the first time he went under so that he couldn't yell for help. By the time Emily had seen him he'd taken in so much water and his leg was just not working so much so that when he went under again he was too tired to come back up.

Brad, as the group's doctor, checked Jack over from top to toe as Teresa employed a long-ago study in massage techniques to ease the constriction in his muscles. Aaron sat nearby and offered comfort to both Jack and Emily and once Jack had admitted that he felt no more pain and Brad was happy that he would recover without issue, he was bundled up in a towel and snuggled in close to Emily as the two settled onto the picnic blanket once more. Within a minute, both were sound asleep as they cuddled in together.

"Are you breathing there Hotch?"

"I'm not sure I am. If Emily hadn't seen him, he'd be very dead right now Dave and I don't know that I could have dealt with that so close to the birth of my second child."

"Knowing you, you would have found a way to work through it and we'll just give thanks to the powers that be that you don't _need_ to find a way to work through it."

Aaron nodded and continued watching his family sleep. Someone would occasionally drift by to see how things were going but for the most part they were left to it as his own racing heart eased and his fear began to subside.

New Section-

"Are you sure it's a good idea to leave Ben at the moment?" Jordan asked anxiously yet again and Derek stopped their forward movement to pull her around in front of him and tip her chin up.

He was about to reassure her with a pat answer about how Garcia would allow nothing bad to happen to the baby but discovered that the fear in her eyes went far deeper than anything he could adequately answer to.

So instead of answering, he gently kissed her temple and turned them back towards the group. He could have his way with her another time; her mental and emotional well-being was more important in that moment.

They had just returned to the group when Brad suggested quietly that it might be an idea if Aaron took Emily and Jack home for a good nights' sleep and Will admitted that after the scare Jack had just had, he didn't feel comfortable letting his own son back in the water. Carrie, JJ and Jordan were nodding agreement and just like that, the day was over and everyone worked together to get everything packed up ready for the walk back to the car.

Aaron woke Emily and got her on her feet with the promise of a full-body massage with oils if she could just stay awake long enough for it. Assured that Brad and Kelly would stay close to her, he scooped up his backpack and donned it and then lifted Jack up into his arms and fell into line at the back of the group making their slow way across the meadow to the quiet sounds of teasing and laughter.

End-

**A/N: One more to go, one more to go! I'm so excited and as my idea for Z has been pretty clear in my head for a little while now and only needs a tiny tweak I don't anticipate this is going to be too difficult an accomplishment to finish after all. See you again soon. **

**Stay tuned for the next piece; Z is for…**

**As always I love reviews, so please feel free to let me know what you think.**


	26. Z is for Zebra's in the Nursery

**A/N: Z changed several times over the course of the story to what you see here but this just seemed the most appropriate of all my wild ideas so I hope you like it. This is the end of the day in the meadow.**

**This piece is rated K for a last little bit of alphabet fluff.**

Zebra's in the Nursery

Emily came to a slow stop outside the closed nursery door and tipped her head to the side. One of the things that had changed for the better during the pregnancy (or perhaps for the worst depending on what it was) had been how strong her sense of smell was. Initially it had been a bad thing to have improve because it just gave her stomach more reasons to throw up but after the nausea had ended it had been an interesting journey.

Despite her exhaustion, when she sniffed she got a faint whiff of paint and she wondered why it was coming from the closed nursery door. _Perhaps the better question Em my love, is why the nursery door is closed in the first place when it has been open every other day._

She smiled slightly. Her dad had always known exactly what question to ask to get to the heart of the matter and cut through any bull in his way. Deciding she had just enough energy left and that there was only one way to know what was going on that would satisfy her in that moment with Aaron and Carrie both busily putting two tired little boys to bed, she stepped forward, turned the handle and stepped into a wonderland.

New Section-

Aaron smiled at Carrie as they left the boys room and rolled his head on his neck.

"I think Jack's getting a little big to be carried around for much longer."

"Oh I think you'll continue carrying him until you physically can't anymore. He loves it and you love it and for both of you it's a reminder of what you survived and today in particular it's a reminder that he is very much alive and that his near-drowning didn't actually kill him. This is also why I continue to carry Toby even when he is far too heavy for me to lift safely."

Their smiles filled with understanding and then Aaron took a large step back and suddenly looked nervous. "Shall we go see if Emily likes our surprise?"

Carrie turned to look at what he could see and smiled. "I'm sure she loves it Aaron. After all, the idea was hers when you think about it."

They walked down the hall and she stopped in the doorway as Aaron rushed forward.

"Emily, are you alright?"

She sat on the floor as if all her strings had been cut and though she didn't appear injured, Carrie itched to go and call 9-1-1.

"I think I'm alright. I stepped in here cause I thought I smelt paint and the smell just overwhelmed me for a moment and I felt incredibly dizzy for a few seconds and then I was just sitting here and looking at the walls and marvelling at the fact that I was here just last night and I didn't see anything different to blank white walls and now there is this here surrounding me. But I'm alright, I swear. How did this get here?"

"I heard what you thought would make a perfect and long-lasting nursery in case we had other children who weren't little girls and decided it was the perfect finish. So I asked around over the last two weeks to find someone who could do it and then it was just a matter of getting you out of the house long enough. I'd thought to have it done on the next case but after meeting the man I decided it needed to be done without Carrie being present too."

Carrie frowned slightly. "Why? What was wrong with him?"

"Nothing that a completely confidant young woman could have dealt with easily. You still have just a little trouble with strange men and I doubted Tony would have given you the time you needed to feel comfortable around him before he attempted to make his moves on you so I figured out a way to keep you from him while you continue getting stronger."

She grinned suddenly. "This is absolutely awesome. I grew up as an only child and in one crazy decision to get ice cream on a cold winter evening I ended up with a job and a big sister and a big brother. Incredibly cool. I love it!"

Aaron and Emily exchanged amused looks before Aaron started feeling nervous again.

"So when Will suggested the picnic today and the fact that we'd need to leave early and come back late to fully comprehend the fullness of the place, I leapt at the chance to get this done today. So what do you think of it. I know we said we'd do it together but I wanted one last surprise before the baby is born and I thought I had it right from what you said."

Emily looked around slowly again at what she could see. The ceiling had been left alone but the walls all the way around the room and right up to the top had been detailed as if Africa had leapt alive onto the walls and gotten stuck there.

She was surrounded by the Serengeti. Parts of lush, marshy greenness filled with birds, hippo's and crocs. Long plains of dirt dotted with scraggly trees and covered with herds of elephants, zebras and giraffe's. Hyena's fed at a dead animal in a small out of the way corner and lions hunted across an entire wall after a foolish buffalo got separated from its herd. It was a glorious glimpse into a country she'd loved almost more than any other she'd ever travelled too and it was a landscape that would appeal not just to little girls but to little boys too.

She looked back into her husbands' anxious eyes and lifted a hand to cup his strong jaw.

"It's absolutely perfectly what I pictured it to be. I love it! I absolutely love it!"

End-

**A/N: Done and Dusted! I never thought I'd get to the end of the alphabet and now here we are. I really hope you enjoyed reading this story as much as I enjoyed writing most of it and that you'll stay with me as I drop back into normalcy. Thanks particularly go out to those who wrote lots of lovely reviews to keep me going and had patience with me when work got in the way and made my postings few and far between. Hopefully this last rush has made up for those lapses.**

**As you can see, Emily hasn't had the baby yet but I am in the process of getting to that so just bear with me and you hopefully won't be disappointed.**

**As always I love reviews, so please feel free to let me know what you think, particularly now that I am at the end of this story. One review of the whole thing would be great if you don't feel the desire to review each chapter you read.**


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